The football association is wise to change its mind about the set up for this year’s cup final, writes the Volkskrant in an editorial.

A two part cup final? KNVB boss Kesler wouldn’t hear of it only a few short days ago. We’ve had that discussion, he said, and it’s not going to happen. But after feverish talks between the football association, the clubs, the local authorities and the home affairs minister, the final is going ahead- as a two parter.
Two games – one in Amsterdam and one in Rotterdam – are going to determine the cup’s home for the next year. Both will be played without away supporters as has been the policy for games between the two clubs for some time.
The football association was wise to change its mind. The initial plans for a single game in Rotterdam would have meant a huge safety operation with a bill to match. The Kuip moreover would have remained half empty with Ajax reluctant to buy a full quota of tickets and ‘neutral’football fans not buying at all.
Abolishing the match would have been a disastrous decision, all the more because the Netherlands wants to host the 2012 world championships and can’t afford to lose international prestige.
So the final(s) will go ahead. But the run up to what is an important event in the Dutch sports calendar hasn’t been pretty and neither has this last minute solution- which the Rotterdammers understandably resent and which doesn’t guarantee a trouble free match. The KNVB, the clubs and the politicians should stop and think about this. Football hooliganism isn’t an exclusively Dutch problem but other European countries have found much better ways of managing it.
This is an unofficial translation