AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Beer thrown from the crowd caused a 15-minute stoppage to the match before PSV Eindhoven secured a 3-0 home win over Ajax Amsterdam in the Dutch league on Sunday in another incident involving objects thrown from the crowd.
A beaker of beer was hurled towards the pitch by a spectator, causing an immediate halt to the game in line with new policies aimed at stamping out bad behaviour in the stands in Dutch football.
A similar incident on Saturday caused the abandonment of the league match between second-from-bottom Groningen and NEC Nijmegen.
But while Saturday’s game was called off after a plastic beaker of beer struck the linesman, Sunday’s match was only halted temporarily because the beer thrown did not land on anyone on the field.
Dutch football has been grappling with abuse from the stands and the throwing of objects. After the Dutch Cup semi-final earlier this month between Ajax and Feyenoord, where a cigarette lighter hurled from the stands in Rotterdam cut the head of Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen, the football association decided that all matches should be stopped immediately if a player or match official was hit by an object from the crowd.
They also decided that if an object is thrown from the terraces but misses, play will be temporarily stopped with the players sent to the dressing rooms. If it happens a second time, the match is immediately stopped.
PSV’s win lifted Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team over Ajax into second place in the standings, five points behind leaders Feyenoord, who were playing later on Sunday.
Luuk de Jong scored twice and teenage sensation Xavi Simons added the other as PSV beat Ajax for a third time this season. The two clubs meet again next Sunday in the Dutch Cup final in Rotterdam.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
