Ajax match abandoned after fireworks, flares set off in stands

Ajax's Eredivisie match against Groningen at the Johan Cruyff Arena was called off after supporters ignited fireworks and flares behind one of the goals.

Referee Bas Nijhuis led the players off the pitch five minutes after kick-off, and when an attempt to restart the match was met with similar scenes, the game was formally abandoned.

The Dutch club confirmed on Sunday that the match will be carried out behind closed doors on Tuesday Dec. 2. 

"The match between Ajax and FC Groningen will resume on Tuesday at 14:30. The game was abandoned on Sunday evening after repeated fireworks were set off, with the score at 0-0," Ajax tweeted. 

Following the incident, the club released a statement condemning the situation. 

"Ajax finds it downright scandalous what happened in the stadium tonight," they said in a tweet. "We offer our apologies to anyone who has been harmed by this in any way whatsoever. The safety of spectators and players has been put in danger. That is unacceptable. We explicitly distance ourselves from this misconduct. Fireworks do not belong in the stadium.

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"The spectators who were in the section of the stadium in question were searched. Dogs were also deployed to detect fireworks, both in the stadium before it opened and at the entry of the spectators. In addition, other preventive measures were taken. Despite this, we were unable to prevent this situation.

"We will of course study the camera footage to try to identify the perpetrators and, in addition, investigate in other ways who is responsible for this. If that leads to the identification of perpetrators, we will take appropriate measures." 

Information from PA contributed to this report.