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Good news for Ajax and Edson Álvarez, the disciplinary committee of the KNVB has dismissed the red card he received during the match versus Vitesse last Saturday. The prosecutor wanted to suspend Álvarez for three matches, but Ajax successfully appealed this.
The Mexican midfielder got sent off versus Vitesse on Saturday after he stepped on the leg of Vitesse player Loïs Openda. It looked accidental but after reviewing the incident via VAR, referee Pol van Boekel dismissed him anyway.
Ajax manager Erik ten Hag already criticised the red card straight after the game: ‘I didn’t understand anything when it happened. Why was this a red card? It is a duel in which Álvarez goes for the ball. This is absolutely not a red card, it has nothing to do with foul play’.
Other referees have stated that Pol van Boekel should have given a yellow card. The UEFA rules that it’s only a red card when there’s obvious brutality in the foul. Ajax appealed against the intention of the KNVB to suspend Álvarez for three matches, and with success!