From the second floor of the Breda courthouse, the floodlights of Rat Verlegh Stadium are visible, a stark reminder of Ronnie Stam's glory days as a local football hero. Now, at 41, the former player joins a growing list of Dutch footballers imprisoned for their involvement in organized crime.

"This is heartbreaking for Dutch football," Evgeniy Levchenko, chairman of the Dutch Professional Footballers' Association (VVCS), told The Athletic. "It's not good for the image of our country or our football. It's painful to see talented, well-known players destroy the image of our game."

Ronnie Stam was a key player for Twente's 2010 Eredivisie title-winning team. Photo: ANP

Ronnie Stam was a key player for Twente's 2010 Eredivisie title-winning team. Photo: ANP

Stam, part of Twente's 2010 Eredivisie-winning squad and a Wigan Athletic player in 2013 (though injury sidelined him during their FA Cup triumph), received a seven-year sentence on 13/8 for his role in international drug trafficking. This latest case underscores Levchenko and the VVCS's warnings to players that their industry attracts not only wealth and fame, but also criminals.

In June 2025, former Ajax winger Quincy Promes's extradition to the Netherlands marked another blow to Dutch football. Promes, capped 50 times by the national team, was sentenced to 6 years in prison in 2/2024 for smuggling 1,363 tons of cocaine, worth an estimated 82 million USD. He had been a fugitive, first in Russia, then Dubai.

In 2022, another former international, David Mendes da Silva, received a seven-year sentence for facilitating the smuggling of two cocaine shipments (74 kg and 105 kg) into the Netherlands. Mendes's case particularly affected Levchenko, a former teammate at Sparta Rotterdam. "I spoke to David a month before his arrest," Levchenko recalled. "He said he wasn't doing much. We planned to meet up. Everything seemed normal. But ultimately, these guys make foolish choices." Mendes, who played for Ajax, NAC Breda, and AZ Alkmaar, was also convicted of bribing a transport worker with 120,000 USD. "I let the wrong people get too close," he admitted in court.

David Mendes (number 14) earned seven caps for the Netherlands between 2007 and 2009. Photo: Sparta Rotterdam

David Mendes (number 14) earned seven caps for the Netherlands between 2007 and 2009. Photo: Sparta Rotterdam

These high-profile cases are alarming, but Dutch authorities acknowledge a wider problem: current and former players associating with known criminals, especially over the past 10 to 15 years. These players become entangled in drug trafficking, money laundering, and match-fixing, sometimes involving weapons, shootings, and murder.

"The difficulty is some players are too close to criminals," said Levchenko, VVCS chairman since 2019. "They consider them friends. That's their biggest mistake. They say, 'He's my friend, I've known him my whole life.' I tell them, 'A real friend wouldn't ask you to transport drugs in your car or carry a million-dollar watch across borders.'" Such incidents have occurred.

Players often get involved through seemingly minor favors: lending cars, holding onto watches, signing jerseys, or attending birthday parties where they meet other criminals. "It's a slippery slope," Levchenko warned. "Once you're in, it's hard to get out."

Criminals target young players, too. Former Amsterdam detective Arno van Leeuwen told Breda's BN DeStem newspaper about working with Ajax and the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) to address this. Often, players and criminals grow up in the same neighborhoods.

Van Leeuwen noticed this pattern in 2015 when an Amsterdam criminal, nicknamed "Boeloeloe," received a police warning about a threat to his life. Boeloeloe left the station in a rented Mercedes. When Van Leeuwen's colleagues checked the license plate, they discovered it belonged to a young Ajax player.

"I decided to check all of Ajax's rental cars," Van Leeuwen said. "I found they were frequently loaned to criminals." One Ajax player's car, lent to a "friend," was shot at, the bullets piercing the rear window and lodging in the driver's seat. Police still use photos of the incident in presentations to clubs and KNVB officials.

Quincy Promes played 39 matches and scored 18 goals for Ajax between 2019 and 2021, and earned 50 caps for the Netherlands national team. Photo: ANP

Quincy Promes played 39 matches and scored 18 goals for Ajax between 2019 and 2021, and earned 50 caps for the Netherlands national team. Photo: ANP

Another Ajax player's car was driven by the son of Gwenette Martha, a notorious criminal killed in 2014. As for Boeloeloe, he too was shot dead in a separate incident.

When Quincy Promes joined Ajax in 2019, Van Leeuwen recalled him being seen with known criminals. "We told him, 'These are people who can become assassination targets. You're with them. If they're attacked, you could be sitting right next to them in the car.'" According to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, Promes also associated with Piet Wortel, a figure in the Dutch underworld suspected of involvement in serious crimes, including drug trafficking and the 2019 murder of former footballer Kelvin Maynard. Maynard, a Surinamese right-back, was shot multiple times in his car in Amsterdam-Zuidoost.

Maynard, who played two seasons for Burton Albion in England's lower leagues, was killed by two masked men on a motorcycle. The assassination was supposedly revenge for the theft of 400 kg of cocaine. Shortly before, the 32-year-old Maynard posted a photo on social media showing a stack of 50 euro notes.

Maynard was shot dead in his car after posting a picture with a stack of money on social media. Photo: nieuwsblad

Maynard was shot dead in his car after posting a picture with a stack of money on social media. Photo: nieuwsblad

Wortel, currently serving three years for money laundering, denies any involvement. Promes has appealed his sentence and is also fighting an additional 18-month sentence from 2023 for stabbing his cousin.

A challenge for Dutch authorities, clubs, player associations, and officials is the culture of flaunting wealth prevalent in modern football. Wealth is seen as a way to gain respect, romanticizing a lifestyle of luxury cars, expensive jewelry, and attractive women.

Levchenko has personally urged top Eredivisie players to be mindful of their social media posts, but they often ignore him. One recently showed off a 232,000 USD watch. "They enjoy displaying their lifestyle: cars, women, watches," Levchenko said. "But they don't realize young players are watching. It's a mistake, but they want to brag."

Another case involves Romeo Castelen, a former Feyenoord and ADO Den Haag player arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in 2019 on suspicion of laundering 2.5 million USD. Castelen, capped 10 times by the Netherlands, was carrying 161,000 USD in cash and claimed it came from football, watch trading, and casino winnings. At his 2024 preliminary hearing in Zwolle, his lawyer, Evelien de Witte, stated, "In football, showing off cash in the locker room is considered 'cool.'" The 42-year-old Castelen denies all charges.

Castelen (right) celebrates with Van der Vaart during a Netherlands national team match. Photo: imago

Castelen (right) celebrates with Van der Vaart during a Netherlands national team match. Photo: imago

Famous footballers are sometimes seen partying with notorious criminals, often in VIP areas. A 2013 riverside party at the Amsterdam Maritime Museum ended in a gang shootout and a fatality. Police report a Dutch international allowed criminals to use his Porsche, which was later found riddled with bullet holes. Players' properties are also frequently misused.

Dutch media alleged that Robin van Ouwerkerk, a notorious criminal linked to "torture containers" in Brabant, became the target of an assassination attempt while living in an apartment rented by Karim Rekik, a former PSV youth player. Marco Ebben, a convicted drug lord shot dead in Mexico in 2025, reportedly hid in the penthouse of former Feyenoord player Terence Kongolo. Guns were found in a Barendrecht house rented by Jetro Willems, then playing for Groningen, in 2023.

Willems, a former Dutch international who played for PSV, Frankfurt, and Newcastle United, now with NEC Nijmegen, was shocked by the discovery, though he wasn't a suspect. Similarly, Rekik (who played for Manchester City, Marseille, and Sevilla) and Kongolo (who played for Huddersfield Town and Fulham) were not investigated.

These stories are unsettling, especially considering the criminals' reputations. Dutch police advise footballers moving to new cities or countries to rent through reputable real estate agencies, not friends or acquaintances.

Jetro Willems played for Newcastle United between 2019 and 2020. Photo: AFP

Jetro Willems played for Newcastle United between 2019 and 2020. Photo: AFP

Veteran Amsterdam detective Bob Schagen told Het Parool in 2023, "We had a player move abroad, rent his house through an acquaintance, and it became a criminal hub. Someone living there was later shot dead. The player ended up working on a cannabis plantation. Criminal associations can taint you for life."

Back to Ronnie Stam, the Breda court heard how he became a criminal figure after retiring in 2016. Six months of intercepted messages from encrypted phones revealed his plans to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine and synthetic drugs. Criminals even appeared at his son's PSV youth team match and threatened his family with a grenade.

Former Dutch goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus expressed his "disgust" at Stam and heavily criticized Promes in De Limburger, noting Promes's description of his time in a Dubai jail as "living hell." Stam also complained about the impact on his family and skipped his sentencing hearing because "prison transport is hell."

"Disbelief, sadness, anger," Waterreus wrote, "but mostly anger at their 'victim' mentality. They act tough trafficking drugs, with life-threatening consequences, then whine like children when punished." He called for the harshest possible sentences.

These cases paint a negative picture of Dutch football, which those involved find undesirable and unfair. Levchenko, a former Ukrainian international who has lived in the Netherlands since he was 18 and played for six Dutch clubs, now, at 47, regularly meets with clubs and players of all ages, warning them against following the path of Stam, Promes, and others.

Evgeniy Levchenko (left). Photo: ANP

Evgeniy Levchenko (left). Photo: ANP

"It's not just the Netherlands," Levchenko said. "I've seen it in Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Russia. But this is a painful story for Dutch football because the world is watching. We visit clubs, talk to players and their parents. Young players aren't thinking about the future. They're thinking, 'If I commit a crime, I can make a lot of money.' It's flawed thinking. We tell them, 'One mistake can ruin your career. Don't be foolish. The chances of getting caught are high.'"

Compiled by Hoang Thong