Soccer-Ajax league match abandoned after RKC goalkeeper knocked out

AFC Ajax NV

30/09/2023 23:04

AMSTERDAM, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Ajax Amsterdam's Dutch
league away game against RKC Waalwijk was abandoned in the 84th
minute on Saturday after RKC goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen was
knocked out in a clash with an opposing player.
    Vaessen went down after a collision with Ajax forward Brian
Brobbey, causing panicked reactions from his team mates as they
frantically called for medical help.
    Screens were put up around the goalkeeper to shield him from
the public eye and players from both sides watched with tears in
their eyes as a defibrillator was rushed on to the field.
    Vaessen lay motionless on the field for minutes before he
was carried away on a stretcher. Both teams went inside and
after deliberations the game was called off.
    "Etienne was knocked out for a while," RKC director Frank
van Mosselveld told broadcaster NOS about an hour after the
incident.
    "Our medical staff started reanimation straightaway but it
looks like it wasn't a problem with his heart. He was conscious
again when he left the field but he did not know where he was."
    Dutch newspaper Telegraaf said Vaessen, 28, had been taken
to hospital.
    Ajax were leading the game 3-2 when play was stopped.

 (Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Clare Fallon)
 ((Bart.Meijer@thomsonreuters.com;))