Ajax midfielder Mohammed Kudus escaped punishment from referee even after taking off his jersey in his special tribute to Christian Atsu.
The Ghana international fired home a lovely free kick in the 84th minute to wrap up an emphatic 4-0 victory over Sparta Rotterdam following Dusan Tadic’ brace and Kenneth Taylor effort in the second half.
The 22-year-old run towards the crowd in celebration before pulling his jersey over his head and revealing a touching tribute to Christian Atsu, which read, ‘RIP Atsu’.
Taking off a jersey obviously attracts a yellow card but the centre ref Van Boekel refused to book the Ajax forward and instead told him he ‘understands’.
“We have football rules but this is beyond football, this is about life and death. The referee told me it’s not allowed (shirt removal) but he understands because this is a bigger situation than football. A big respect from me to the referee.” Kudus told reporters after the game.
Several clubs and players across the world paid tribute to Atsu over the weekend but Kudus’s own was quite unique.
Atsu’s body was found following the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria two weeks ago and his mortal remains has since been returned to his home country, Ghana.
The former Chelsea and Newcastle United player joined Hatayspor in September last year and scored a last gasp winner in a Super Lig fixture on February 5, a day before the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
Ajax are currently second in the Eredivisie having struggled in the beginning of the season.