Former Ajax footballer Quincy Promes goes on trial for attempted murder on Friday, but the former Dutch international, who now plays for Spartak Moscow, will not be in court.

Promes, 30, is accused of stabbing a family member in the knee during a party in Abcoude over two years ago. Friday’s hearing in Amsterdam is to prepare the main trial which will start on March 3 next year.

The case dates back to July 2020 when Promes allegedly stabbed a family member after a party. The victim only reported the incident to the police two months later and Promes was arrested a month after that.

He denied the charges and released from custody two days later. Two months after the arrest, Promes moved from Ajax to Spartak for some €8 million.

Promes returned to the Netherlands in summer 2021 for the European Championships and his last of 50 Dutch caps.  Two weeks later, the public prosecution department announced it would take legal action against him and that he was being charged with attempted murder.