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Soccer expert Johan Derksen on TV
Photo: ANP / IMAGO
A debate about how to deal with sexual violence has flared up again in the Netherlands after one of the country's best-known football experts joked in front of the cameras about his own assault 50 years ago.
Johan Derksen, 76, reported on the TV show "Vandaag Inside" on Tuesday that he had molested a drunk and unconscious woman in the past - to the amusement of presenter Wilfred Genee and ex-soccer player René van der Gijp.
According to the Guardian, during the show, which was seen by around 600,000 people, he said: »I was out with the goalkeeper from SC Veendam, with two ladies.
We were drunk and went to their house, but the women were so full that they threw up on us.
Then I remember - I'm not proud of it, but that's what happens when you're young - one of them was lying unconscious on the couch.
And there was this big candle.
So we put that in and then we took off.” He punctuated his narrative with an unmistakable hand gesture, showing “putting in” the candle.
The case reinforces a discussion in the Netherlands that has been going on for months.
The public prosecutor's office has just launched a large-scale investigation to investigate possible sexual assaults on the Dutch branch of the show "The Voice".
Among other things, Linda de Mol's ex-partner, Jeroen Rietbergen, is suspected of having harassed participants in the program.
The ex-juror Ali B. is being investigated for rape allegations.
The first revelations led to the end of the popular casting show in the Netherlands in January.
The scandal surrounding the show was the biggest #MeToo affair in the Dutch media to date.
In this charged situation, Derksen joked about his assault.
On Wednesday, one day after the broadcast of »Vandaag Inside«, he then corrected his statement, which had already been much criticized at the time: the candle was only placed near the legs, and he also did not tell the story in the appropriate tone.
He refrained from an apology.
Both "Vandaag Inside" and "The Voice" are produced by Talpa, a media company owned by John de Mol. According to the company, the moderators were supposed to apologize on Thursday, but it later emerged that Johan Derksen had resigned.
According to the Dutch media, Derksen showed little understanding and is quoted as saying: »We are not here to pass an apology test.
Kiss my ass.” The show was canceled.
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The Dutch law enforcement authorities have announced that they will open proceedings against ex-soccer player Derksen: "The investigation is intended to find out the truth about the potentially criminal behavior discussed in the program." They asked for help with the investigation and called possible stuff :inside or those affected to get in touch.
It was also pointed out that "particularly hurtful" was how succinctly joked about the topic in the program: "This can traumatize victims of sexual assault for a long time to come."