Ajax reach £6.4m financial settlement with Abdelhak Nouri’s family after the club accepted responsibility for his severe and permanent brain damage

Dutch football club, Ajax has reached a financial settlement with the family of talented midfielder Abdelhak Nouri, who suffered severe and permanent brain damage during a pre-season friendly in 2017.

Recall Nouri collapsed on the pitch following a cardiac arrhythmia during a pre-season friendly vs Werder Bremen in Austria in. He was in coma for 32 months (two years, eight months and 19 days) and woke up in March of 2020.

The club previously acknowledged that Nouri did not get adequate medical attention after he collapsed and accepted responsibility.

On Monday February 21, the club announced that Nouri’s family will get the sum of £6.54million in damages and loss of potential future earnings.

The settlement brought to an end a case Nouri’s family began at the Dutch football association’s arbitration commission. Ajax has paid medical and other care costs for Nouri since 2017.

Nouri was just 20 when he went into coma. He made his debut for Ajax in September 2016 and played 15 games for the first team.

The club gave his name to a trophy that is awarded each year to the most talented player at the Ajax academy and the first team retired the No. 34 jersey Nouri wore.

“It is good that an agreement has been reached so that we can conclude this,” Ajax director Edwin van der Sar said.

“We all realize that it does not end the suffering of Abdelhak and his loved ones. It remains a very sad situation, that is how we feel here at Ajax, too.” He added