The Dutch passpoortgate issue: When the loss of nationality affects the player’s eligibility
In early 2026 Dutch professional football confronted an uncomfortable possibility: that clubs had been fielding players who were, unknown to anyone, ineligible. The cause was not doping or forged papers but nationality law. A footballer who voluntarily acquires another country's nationality automatically loses his Dutch one, and a player who is neither Dutch nor a national of another EU state needs a work permit to play in the Netherlands. Several players who had joined foreign national teams had lost their Dutch nationality. According to the KNVB, ineligible players had featured in as many as 133 matches in a single competition.
The issue (also commonly known as the ‘passpoortgate’ scandal) came to a head on 15 March 2026. NAC Breda (NAC), fighting relegation, lost 6–0 at home to Go Ahead Eagles. Shortly afterwards NAC alleged that one of the Go Ahead players who had featured was ineligible: he had lost his Dutch nationality in 2025 on taking Indonesian nationality to play for Indonesia's national team, and had since been playing without the work permit he now needed.[1]
NAC asked the KNVB to investigate and sought to have the match replayed. On 8 April 2026 the league committee refused. NAC challenged that refusal before the District Court of Central Netherlands (the Rechtbank Midden-Nederland) before the interim relief judge; after a hearing on 28 April 2026, the court dismissed its claims on 4 May 2026, finding no grounds to order a replay. [2] A problem of this scale had not arisen before in professional football, and it sits at an awkward junction of nationality law, immigration law and the rules of sport. This article examines the judgment (available here[3]) and what it means for clubs.
This article looks at:
Please note that the authors acted for an interested party in this case.
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- Tags: Citizenship | Immigration | Netherlands | Player Eligibility | Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB)
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Written by
Frans de Weger
Chairman, FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber & Partner/Founder, BMDW Advocaten
Frans de Weger is Attorney-at-Law registered at the bar in the Netherlands and has been working in sports law for more than fifteen years.
In the past, Frans worked at the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) as a legal assistant, as a licensed player’s agent and for seven years at the organisation for Dutch professional football clubs, the Federation of Professional Football Organisations (FBO). At the FBO, he further specialised in national and international football law and regularly advised on various legal issues, including player contracts, national and international transfers, training fees and solidarity contributions.
In 2015, Frans was appointed as CAS arbitrator and since then is regularly appointed by parties as a arbiter and by CAS as Sole Arbitrator or President.
In 2021 Frans was appointed for a period of 4 years as Chairperson of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), FIFA’s decision-making body that deals with the international employment and transfer related disputes between players and clubs
Marit Slings
At BMDW Advocaten, Marit Slings serves the dual role of administrative and legal assistant. Heradministrative duties are varied and focused on ensuring the smooth and efficient running of day-to-day operations at the firm.
In her role as a legal assistant, Marit supports our attorneys with a wide range of legal matters. She does this by, among other things, preparing legal documents, conducting case law research, and assisting with the drafting of pleadings.
