Normally the most accommodating of players for giving interviews, particularly post-match and whether his side has won or lost, Virgil van Dijk has finally lost patience with a Dutch television channel.
According to the Daily Mirror, the centre-back has taken umbrage at some of the content on the ‘Veronica Inside’ programme which is aired by the TV company, Veronica.
At a time when campaigns such as Black Lives Matter are at the forefront of everyone’s mind, particularly people of colour, van Dijk and his Dutch team-mates have had enough.
“Enough is enough! We, the Dutch international players, no longer speak to you,” van Dijk noted on his social media channels, and despite the protestations of former player, Johan Derksen, who hosts the show.
“This is innocent humour? This is the banter in every football bar? This is just an opinion? This is what you call seeking the limit ? And we are supposed to let go?
“No! This is well over the edge. Not for the first time. Not for the second time. Time and time again. Enough is enough!”
Though there’s bound to be a backlash to such a decision, it’s great to see that someone of the stature of van Dijk is prepared to call out behaviour that he sees as unacceptable.
By holding certain companies to account, and denying them access in the process, it sends a strong message to everyone else that this is something that’s not going away and the sooner companies and individuals understand that, the better.