February 22 – Eredivisie giant Ajax and Abdelhak Nouri’s family have reached a settlement of €7.85 million to care for the brain-damaged former player.
After long discussions between the parties, an agreement was reached outside of the courts. In 2017, Nouri suffered a cardiac arrest during a pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen and the Dutchman fell into a coma.
“It is good that an agreement has been reached so that we can conclude this,” said Ajax CEO Edwin Van Der Sar in a statement. “We all realise that the suffering for Abdelhak and his loved ones is not over. It remains a very sad situation – that’s how we feel here at Ajax too.”
“We greatly appreciate the way the family takes care of Abdelhak day and night, with a lot of love and attention. When I visit him, I am always welcomed with open arms by the family. That also applies to other Ajax colleagues and we appreciate that enormously.”
“The bond between Ajax and the Nouri family will always remain. Not only because of the Abdelhak Nouri Trophy, which the family hands out annually to the greatest young talent of our academy. Also because we have decided to give the number 34 to the Nouri family.”
The Dutch club accepted Nouri’s medical care in the immediate aftermath of his cardiac arrest was “not adequate” and have “acknowledged liability for the consequences”. Ajax has paid medical and other care costs for Nouri since 2017.
Mohammed Nouri, Abdelhak’s father, said: “This summer it will be five years ago that Abdelhak was struck by fate. The past few years have been dominated by his care. In addition to all the difficult moments, this has also yielded a lot of precious things for us. [We] realise that for many people Abdelhak personifies togetherness and fraternisation, which is a very comforting thought.”
“The involvement and commitment of Ajax has also been extremely important in all those years. Ajax has been an inseparable part of our lives since Abdelhak’s youngest years. We cherish the bond with people within the club as well as with the loyal supporters.”
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