According to DW, Vitesse Arnhem will not play in the top football league in the Netherlands the following year. Due to financial violations, the team has lost eighteen points as it works to ensure that it will never again be owned by a Russian oligarch.
Vitesse Arnhem will not compete in the Netherlands’ top football division next season. The club has been docked 18 points for financial breaches, as it seeks to secure a future without Russian oligarch ownership.
Vitesse are also having an abysmal season on the pitch, but matters off it are even more fraught.
The Netherlands’ KNVB football association handed Vitesse Arnhem an 18-point deduction on Friday, making the struggling side’s relegation a mathematical certainty.
It’s the largest penalty of its kind in the history of Dutch football. However, the club said it did not plan to appeal, and it welcomed the lifeline offered by the KNVB that means it might at least be able to retain its license and continue to exist as a club.
The club’s been in turmoil for some time now, as it tries and fails to extricate itself from Russian ownership following the invasion of Ukraine and EU sanctions against its current owner.
Vitesse were already bottom of the league on 17 points with just a few matches left to save themselves. Now they have a nominal total of -1 points and relegation is inevitable.