“Want to tell the football world what is really happening”: players plagued Deinze come out with a statement

The crisis seems to be going from bad to worse at Deinze. A takeover was supposed to breathe new life into the Challenger Pro League club, but for the time being the second division remains in short supply. The situation is so dire that players share their experiences and express dissatisfaction in an open letter. “No pay or communication shows great disrespect,” it said.

What should have been a honeymoon after finding a new investor and acquirer is increasingly looking like a false start for the second division.

On Tuesday, “the new Deinze” already missed its Deadline Day. The club then appeared before the licensing committee, but could not demonstrate that it had paid the outstanding debts and the overdue player wages.

The result: a points deduction of three points on top of the existing transfer ban.

In a strong statement, Deinze appealed. The deadline was “simply not feasible” due to the urgent procedure of the takeover, it said. But everything should be fine on Friday (read: yesterday), was the answer.

And so the players took it into their hands to open up Deinze’s book about the past few months.

“We, the players and staff of KMSK Deinze, would like to inform the fans and the broader football community about the situation we have been experiencing for 2.5 months,” is the first sentence in the open letter.

The players describe that the problems already started this summer. “The ACA Group openly lied to us by claiming that the rumors surrounding its financial situation were only intended to damage the club.”

Despite the tension that started to bubble up, everyone remained faithful in their daily activities. “At that time, many people within the club, including physiotherapists and fitness coaches, had not been paid for some time.”

A few weeks later they called it a day, leaving the players to complete their sessions on their own. But that’s not the only way they were affected. What followed: no lunch, no GPS to track training data and no more car and fuel cards.

“This meant we had to pay to play for the club. Some of us even had to get to the club by train or bus. In addition, we had to pay out of our own pocket for the apartments the club provided for the players.”

Yesterday the club posted a message about next week’s match, but until the players are paid we won’t play anymore.

Players Deinze

A new investor was introduced on October 11. The sky finally seemed to clear for players and staff. Although that quickly turned out to be a utopia.

“Two representatives of the new group came to the dressing room to introduce themselves. They assured us that we would be paid. First at the end of October, then the first days of November, then on the day of the licensing committee and finally on November 15 .”

Until today, the players have not seen a euro from the new owner. The feeling that they will get paid shrinks by the minute. “In addition, two players who paid to come to training every day were removed from the selection list.”

“This week we reached an agreement with the club, which stipulates that we will no longer come if the payments are not made before November 15,” the disgruntled players continue.

“First of all, we did not receive our wages yesterday and there was no clear communication from the club that day, which shows a great lack of respect. Our patience has run out and we think it is important to let the football world know what is really happening .”

So the message is clear: “Yesterday the club posted a message on social media about next week’s match, but as long as the players have not been paid, we will not play anymore.”

“Over the past 2.5 months we kept going, kept quiet about the situation and worked hard and showed good results on the field. But at a certain point it is enough, also for us.”