The world of football continues to mourn the death of Christian Atsu, the footballer who was killed in the earthquake in Turkey that claimed tens of thousands of lives in the country and in Syria.
In yesterday's match (Sunday) between Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam, Mohamed Kodos dedicated the goal he scored with a free ball in the 0:4 of the Amsterdam club to his teammate who was killed.
The midfielder's shirt was emblazoned with the words "RIP Atsu" as his teammates hugged him around and the crowd at the Amsterdam Arena was moved by the gesture.
According to the dry constitution, in case of taking off a shirt, even if in the case of a gesture, the referee should issue a yellow card to the player.
This time, Paul van Boeckel, the referee of the match, chose to behave differently and explained to the player that he chooses not to show him a yellow for the emotional gesture.
"It's bigger than football rules, it's about life and death," Kodos explained.
"The judge said that I shouldn't have taken my shirt off, but that he understood the situation. I respect him and his intention very much. It was dedicated to Christian, everyone knows what happened in Turkey. I chose to do the gesture, because Etsu was dear to my heart. It is of course also dedicated to all The victims and their families."
An Ajax player talked about his relationship with Atsu during his career: "I learned a lot just by watching him. He would give me advice relatively often. Everything I gave today in the game was dedicated to his memory. Even if I didn't score, I would show the shirt at the end of the game." .
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