Collapsed during test match
Ajax pays millions to Nouri’s family
02/21/2022, 9:28 p.m
Abdelhak Nouri is considered a great talent in Dutch football. Five years ago he collapsed in a friendly with cardiac arrest. His former club Ajax Amsterdam now admits errors in medical care on the pitch and pays compensation.
Ajax Amsterdam have agreed millions in compensation with the family of ex-player Abdelhak Nouri. The club will therefore pay 7.85 million euros, as the Dutch football record champion announced. Nouri suffered cardiac arrest during a friendly against Werder Bremen on July 8, 2017. After that, the 24-year-old was in a coma and suffered from severe permanent brain damage. Ajax has now acknowledged errors in medical care on the pitch and took responsibility for it as an employer.
Nouri (left) as a 19-year-old at a UEFA Europe League game at the end of 2016.
(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)
“It is good that an agreement has been reached so that we can complete this. We all know that the suffering for Abdelhak and his loved ones is not over. It remains a very sad situation,” said Ajax manager and ex-international Edwin van der Sar.
The association has reimbursed the costs of Nouri’s care since 2017 and will continue to cover them. The Nouri family dropped the proceedings before the Arbitration Committee of the Dutch association KNVB after the settlement.
Nouri’s father can now look ahead
“It is good that the discussion about liability and its consequences is a thing of the past and we can look forward together. This will mainly focus on the great plans we have with the Abdelhak Nouri Foundation,” said Nouri’s father Mohammed Nouri.
Before his cardiac arrest, Nouri was considered one of the greatest talents in Dutch football. Nouri is now being cared for by his family in a specially furnished apartment near his parents’ house. According to the family two years ago, Nouri is conscious but cannot get out of bed.