September 2 – The crisis at the Dutch FA, the KNVB, has been exacerbated following the Netherlands’s 1-2 home defeat to Greece and the resignation of director of football Bert Van Oostveen. The KNVB was already struggling to complete its coaching staff.
In August Dick Advocaat left his role as Netherlands assistant coach to take charge at Fenerbahce. Head coach Danny Blind said that he was “shocked and disappointed.” In the past, Advocaat had coached the Netherlands twice
Ruud Gullit’s tenure as assistant coach was also short-lived. He fell out with the KNVB’s technical director Hans van Breukelen, though Gullit claims the Dutch FA hadn’t wanted to agree to a severance package.
Marco Van Basten is the latest assistant coach to leave the Netherlands. He will take up a role at FIFA in November as part of an innovation team that will consider a number of changes to the laws of the game.
Van Oostveen resignation is a big blow for the federation. He was responsible for appointing Guus Hiddink after the 2014 World Cup as head coach, but the decision was deeply unpopular as Hiddink was considered too old by many in Dutch football. The Netherlands subsequently failed to qualify for Euro 2016.
The 45-year-old Van Oostveen had held the position for six years. At the request of the KNVB he remains as secretary-general and tournament director for the Women’s European Championships 2017. Gijs de Jong, the KNVB director of operations, will succeed Van Oostveen.
“The time as chairman of professional football has been great, but at the same time excessively intense,” read a statement from Van Oosteveen. “That’s why I have partly used the summer to take a good think about my own future. Many projects failed, many ambitions were realised, some not.”
The institutional crisis at the KNVB was deepened as ‘Oranje’ slumped to a lowly 1-2 defeat against Greece in Eindhoven. Georginio Wijnaldum put the hosts in front, but goals from Konstantinos Mitroglou and Giannis Gianniotas reversed the scoreline.
Next week the Netherlands play Sweden in Solna in World Cup qualifying. In Group A, the Dutch will also encounter France, Bulgaria, Belarus and Luxembourg on the road to Russia.
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