Soccer Stars Wesley Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt in Illegal Gambling Scrape with Dutch Gangsters

Posted on: November 9, 2021, 06:48h. 

Last updated on: November 9, 2021, 09:50h.

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Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Former Netherlands soccer internationals Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt have become embroiled in a case involving illegal gambling and a gangster known as “the Godfather of the Hague.”

According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraph, the two retired soccer stars have been interviewed by police in relation to bets placed on illegal sports betting site Edobet. Prosecutors believe the site was owned and operated by a figure referred to in media reports only as “Freddy S.”

Suspects are not named fully in the Dutch media until they are convicted of a crime.

Freddy S is the son of a man referred to as “Piet S,” whom prosecutors allege is the boss of bosses in the Hague’s criminal underworld.

Sneijder Family Threatened

Sneijder, 37, and Kuyt, 41, were named by alleged gangsters in phone calls intercepted by police.

“That boy [Kuyt] had a [credit] limit of five [thousand euros]. Freddy has increased that limit to 25 [thousand euros]. But he sometimes plays five grand a day,” one is heard saying.

The suspects also discuss Sneijder’s alleged habit of not paying his gambling debts.

We will no longer ask for money first. Just have him kicked into the hospital. Could also be a female, as long as it is someone from [his] family. His mother, aunt, grandma, I don’t care who,” the unnamed person said on the intercepted call.

Sneijder denied placing bets on the website. He told De Telegraph he was approached by some people who said his father’s cousin owed them money and he had been named as a guarantor.

“I’ve only seen him once. He’s a master con artist,” Sneijder said of his relative. “They apologized ten times and then they left. I never heard from them again.”

Kuyt has admitted placing bets with Edobet. He told police he often met representatives of the site at a gas station and made transactions in cash. He said he liked doing this because it was anonymous.

“I didn’t play for the money, but I liked to play,” he explained.

Hague’s Major Players

Piet S, 65, also known as “De Dikke,” or “the Fat One,” was arrested in September 2020 and accused of presiding over an international drug-trafficking organization. He was later indicted on numerous offenses, including drug trafficking, money laundering, assault, and membership of a criminal gang. His trial is ongoing.

Sneijder is the most-capped player for the Netherlands with 134 appearances. The midfield playmaker was part of the Inter Milan side that won the Champions League in 2010.

Kuyt spent most of his career playing for Liverpool in the EPL. Both players were part of the Netherlands team that made the World Cup final in 2010.