Fans suffer firework burns and eye injuries in Eredivisie

Dutch club SC Cambuur said fans have suffered "burns, hearing damage and eye injuries" after Feyenoord supporters threw fireworks during Sunday's league match.

Play was suspended for around 10 minutes in the first half after visiting fans in the away end at the Kooi Stadion lit a large number of red flares and threw fireworks.

Some of the fireworks were aimed towards sections containing home fans and SC Cambuur said in a statement that five supporters were confirmed to have been injured.

Feyenoord said it "firmly distances itself from the unacceptable events" and that head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst - an assistant to Arne Slot at Liverpool last season - apologised on behalf of the club to SC Cambuur after the match.

"It should be clear that setting off and firing fireworks is completely unacceptable and has no place in a football stadium whatsoever," SC Cambuur said.

The club, who were promoted to the Eredivisie last season after three seasons in the Dutch second tier, said it would work with the authorities to make sure those responsible were punished, while Feyenoord said they would request camera footage.

Last season, an Eredivisie match between Ajax and Groningen was abandoned after fireworks and flares were ignited behind one of the goals at Johan Cruyff Arena.

Feyenoord's general manager Robert Eenhoorn said he "cannot be happy" with their 5-2 victory in Leeuwarden, adding "frustration prevails too much for that".

"This problem obviously does not only affect Feyenoord and is unfortunately something we have been unable to put a stop to for decades," Eenhoorn said.

"We will therefore have to sit down again with all stakeholders, clubs, the KNVB [Dutch football association], and the authorities to look for a solution together."

Leeuwarden mayor Foort van Oosten also condemned the incident and promised an investigation, while the Dutch football association said it would revisit its protocols for incidents of disorder.

The game resumed despite the injuries to the fans, but it would have been abandoned had a player or match official been hit.

"That doesn't feel right," Jan Bluyssen, the KNVB's manager of professional football competition affairs, told Dutch news agency ANP.

"We need to examine whether the protocol is still appropriate and how we might want to adjust it."

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