Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Politicians, footballers, 50 children
The world’s oldest professional is a villain
By Tobias Nordmann
Ronnie Brunswijk’s legendary game lasts almost exactly 54 minutes. As of Tuesday, the Vice President of Suriname became the oldest footballer to appear in an international club competition. But Ronnie Brunswijk is much more: top politician and wanted criminal.
Ronnie Brunswijk is a lot, a convicted criminal or a controversial statesman. But one thing is not Ronnie Brunswijk, an actor. When the mighty captain of Inter Moengetapoe in the preliminary round match of the CONCACAF League is fouled badly after 25 minutes in the center circle by an opponent whose name we unfortunately do not know, he shakes himself briefly, stands up, smiles and just continues playing. This moment is good news for everyone involved. Because the man does not always feel so much gentleness in himself. 16 years ago, for example, the Surinamer simply drew a pistol during a game. He wanted to threaten an opponent with it and was banned for five years. The sentence was later overturned “for lack of evidence”.
Ronnie Brunswijk has never lost the fun of football. But it should also be clear to him that his career is now slowly over. He was in the starting line-up against the Honduran representative CD Olimpia, but it was over after 54 minutes. And a Youtube video with his best scenes, suggests that the ravages of time are gnawing at him massively. Deficits in physique and in the speed of action on the ball can really not be discussed away. Even if the opponents keep an official safe distance from the striker out of respect. Nevertheless, Ronnie Brunswijk can be proud of himself. Because in the 0: 6 defeat in his own stadium (which of course bears his name), which he could not prevent despite a few successful passes, he set a record. At the age of 60 years and 198 days, Suriname’s vice president rose to be the oldest footballer in an international club competition on Tuesday evening.
It is unclear whether he can make the record a little more unattainable for future generations. The only thing that is clear is that he will definitely not play in the second leg. Because the matter with Ronnie Brunswijk is internationally complicated and extremely dangerous for him. The former army officer and former rebel leader cannot leave his home without the risk of arrest because of several arrest warrants. In Suriname’s former colonial power, the Netherlands, he faces up to eight years imprisonment for drug trafficking and up to ten years in France. Brunswijk, one of the richest men in the country, explains the origin of his fortune with timber and gold mining concessions that he received after the war.
Father of at least 50 children
Well, there are major doubts about the very solid nature of his life. 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. One of his 50-plus-X children is under contract with Inter Moengetapoe, which incidentally belongs to Ronnie himself. He wears the ten. Against CD Olimpia, however, his working day was over after less than 30 minutes, and he was replaced. Nothing is known about an injury. And that of all things in the game in which his father became a legend in international football. It will probably be a topic in the family again.
But not that evening. That evening belonged to Ronnie alone. And he lived up to his reputation as a generous man. A video that was circulated on Twitter shows the Vice President handing out bills in the Olimpia booth quite frankly. The corona mask requirement was only considered rudimentary. The original clip has apparently been deleted. As reported by journalist Jon Arnold, the scene was streamed live by someone whom the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia describes as a “Surinamese football club owner, entertainer, convicted drug dealer” and also as a “politician”. Ronnie later left the cabin wearing a guest jersey. It all seems very strange, but fits in with the stories that are told about Brunswijk. He once allegedly pelted his political supporters with money while circling over them in a helicopter.
No matter how strange it all sounds, the incumbent Vice-Head of State is also considered to be one of the people who helped bring democracy back to the small South American country north of Brazil. There are historical reasons why it is not assigned to the CONMEBOL association, but to the North and Central American association. Because Suriname was a Dutch colony until 1975. In fact, many of the stars of the “Elftal” have their roots in the country to this day. The current national players Georginio Wijnaldum and Virgil van Dijk, for example. Or also Ruud Gullit. Legends like Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids were even born in the capital Paramaribo. The fact that the country has not yet benefited from the players’ blessed talent is another story. But it may change soon.
Last summer, i.e. 2019, the government, under pressure from the association, overturned the rule that players with two passports are not allowed to play for Suriname. Before that, it had been difficult to convince Dutch footballers to give up their privileges to play for Suriname. First sporting success: Suriname qualified for the first time for the Gold Cup, the equivalent of the European Championship. There were two defeats there in the summer against Jamaica (0: 2) and Costa Rica (1: 2), but also a win against Guadeloupe (2: 1).
Robin Hood and guerrilla warriors
Brunswijk is known in its homeland as “Robin Hood”. As someone who, when he was young, distributed the booty he had stolen from raids on military vehicles. However, there is also a lot of blood on the hands of the now 60-year-old. He was the leader of the “Jungle Commandos”, which fought in a year-long guerrilla war against the regime of Desi Bouterse, which carried out a successful military coup on the corrupt government in early 1980. Once head of the bodyguard of the Putsch president, Brunswijk had turned against Bouterse. The skirmishes between Bouterses troops and Brunswijk’s rebels also resulted in one of the most brutal massacres in history. In 1986, parts of the army killed 39 people, most of them civilians. The fact that Bouterse became head of state between 2010 and 2020 had, of course, to do with Brunswijk again. He allied himself again with him, only to enter into a pact against him ten years later, in 2020, and thus to rise to the position of vice-president behind Bouterse opponent Chandrikapersad Santokhi. House of Cards in Suriname.
Brunswijk was never one to shy away from violence. In 2007 there was a political uproar in parliament. The short version reads: The Speaker of Parliament, Paul Somohardjo, has been publicly accused of being involved in criminal activities. A wild scuffle broke out. Brunswijk interfered, pushed the accused to the ground and stepped on him several times. And there is also a problematic history with President Santokhi. Santokhi hunted Brunswijk as a police officer in the 1980s before the two politically merged.
By the way, when the new oldest footballer who was ever used in an international club competition left the field, it was 3-0. A little later, the guests made it 4-0. Inter Moengetapoe were given a chance to shorten the match but in the absence of the captain, Miguel Darson put a penalty wide. Soon it was 0: 5. What a bitter evening. What a bitter legend game. Just not for Ronnie, who later happily pulled the coal – and not the gun.