Sunday, September 26, 2021
Distributed money to opponents
Football record man Brunswijk suspended for a long time
Ronnie Brunswijk will not be able to improve his record as the oldest player in an international club competition anytime soon. The 60-year-old, who cannot leave his home country because of several arrest warrants, is banned for three years. Because he gave the opponent cash.
Surinam’s Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk has been banned for three years by the umbrella organization CONCACAF (North / Central America and the Caribbean) four days after his bizarre football appearance for “serious violations of the rules of integrity”. At the same time, Brunswijk’s club Inter Moengotapoe and CD Olimpia from Honduras were banned from the current CONCACAF League.
The first leg of the two clubs in the round of 16 on Tuesday (0: 6) made headlines as Brunswijk set itself up as the club owner and set a record in international club competitions at the age of 60 years and 198 days. A video subsequently appeared on the Internet showing how Brunswijk apparently distributed money to opponents Olimpia’s players after the final whistle.
“After evaluating the actions shown in the video and examining the written statements of both clubs, the disciplinary committee determined that there were serious violations of the rules of integrity after the game,” said a CONCACAF statement. Since the investigation is still ongoing, further sanctions are possible.
It is another scandalous episode in Brunswijk’s life. The former army officer and former rebel leader cannot leave his home country without the risk of being arrested on foreign soil because of several arrest warrants. In absentia, Brunswijk was sentenced to eight years in prison in 1999 for drug trafficking in Surinam’s former colonial power, the Netherlands, and a year later to ten years behind bars in France.
According to a portrait in the New York Times, he was an elite paratrooper, soccer player, wanted bank robber, guerrilla leader, gold baron and father of at least 50 children in the course of his life. Against CD Olimpia, however, his working day was over after less than 30 minutes, and he was replaced. By the time his suspension expires and a possible next deployment, he would be 63 years old.