Amsterdam’s chief of police Frank Paauw has been confirmed as the new chair of the Dutch football association (KNVB) in a move that has angered some supporters’ groups.

The 65-year-old defeated former FC Groningen director Hans Nijland and ex-international player Jeanet van der Laan when clubs voted at the KNVB’s headquarters in Zeist on Monday.

Paauw will step down from his current position as head of Amsterdam’s police division to take up the post, which became vacant when Just Spee retired on health grounds in January.

He will take over from Spee for the rest of the current three-year term, which runs to the end of 2025, anpand is eligible for two further terms if he seeks re-election.

Paauw was nominated by the KNVB in January, triggering protests by some hardcore fans who were angered by his handling of Ajax’s matches and his proposal last October to ban away fans from “high-risk games”.

“It’s never nice to see your name on banners,” he said. “You can whinge about it, or you can think about where the resistance comes from. It’s made me humble.”

In his first interview after his appointment, he stressed he was not proposing a nationwide ban on travelling fans, but wanted tougher action against troublemakers.

Building trust

“I think we need to look first at more tailored measures,” he told SBS6. “We can make much better use of the system of bonuses and sanctions for supporters.”

Paauw held a two-hour meeting with supporters’ groups last week as part of a drive to restore fans’ trust.

“We listened to each other well in that conversation,” he said. “We sat there for two hours and nobody walked away, so that’s a start.”