Ajax pay nearly €8m in compensation to stricken footballer Nouri

Photo: Harold Versteeg Hollandse Hoogte

Amsterdam football club Ajax is paying close to €8m in compensation to the family of Abdelhak Nouri, who suffered serious and irreversible brain damage following a heart attack on the field in 2017.

In 2018, the club admitted liability for failing to treat him properly on the pitch, which resulted in a fatal lack of oxygen to the brain. Ajax have also pledged to pay for any medical costs for Nouri, who needs round the clock care.

However, the legal wranglings in the case have taken years because it had been difficult to ascertain how successful Mouri would have been had he not been taken ill.

‘How would his life and career have looked had he had adequate care on the field at the time? That is not just a legal but a medical discussion. That made things very complex,’ the Nouri family lawyer Lucas Hogeling told broadcaster NOS.

Nouri’s parents said they felt comforted by the support they had received since the incident. ‘We feel Abdelhak was to many people a symbol of unity and brotherhood. That is a comforting thought,’ his father Mohammed Nouri said.

He also said he was proud his son’s bond with Ajax was as strong as ever, with a chair bearing his jersey number 34 taking pride of place in the Ajax museum.

Ajax director Edwin van der Sar said he was happy with the agreement. ‘We know it is not going to lessen the grief of Abdelhak and the family. It will always be an extremely sad situation for them and we feel that at Ajax as well.’ Van der Sar told the broadcaster.

The club and the Nouri family have plans to set up a Abdelhak Nouri Foundation.