Vitesse Arnhem Kicked Out of Professional Football

Vitesse, the second-oldest pro football club in the Netherlands, has lost its licence to play professional football. A court in Utrecht backed the KNVB’s decision to take the licence away after the club repeatedly broke league rules.

The 133-year-old team from Arnhem — which has produced stars like Mason Mount, Martin Ødegaard, and Phillip Cocu — couldn’t avoid the punishment, even after last-minute attempts by local investors to save it.

The KNVB said Vitesse had been given plenty of chances to fix things but failed. A new Arnhem-based investor group, De Sterkhouders, took over the club’s shares, but it wasn’t enough to change the decision.

The judge called the situation sad but said the club’s long-running rule breaches were too serious to ignore.

As a result, Vitesse’s weekend game against Almere City was called off. The club’s future is unclear, but management says they’re still talking to backers to try to keep football alive in Arnhem.