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Dutch FA vows to punish Ajax fans for Cup final violence

(Reuters) - Ajax Amsterdam fans who threw fireworks on to the pitch which led to Sunday's Dutch Cup final against PEC Zwolle to be halted twice will be punished, Dutch FA (KNVB) director Bert van Oostveen said.

PEC Zwolle's sensational 5-1 win over the favourites was marred by the violent scenes which were described as "unacceptable" and "scandalous" by van Oostveen and Ajax coach Frank de Boer respectively.

The game was stopped just after the start for an half hour as fireworks and smoke bombs damaged the Rotterdam pitch and set an advertising board alight.

"It was ... an unacceptable start to an outstanding cup final with PEC a fantastic winner," said Van Oostveen.

"The events in the first five minutes of the game were very disappointing. We will work with the clubs and the local authorities thoroughly to evaluate this and we will try to track down and punish the perpetrators."

De Boer added: "It was scandalous what happened, it had nothing to do with football. They discredited Ajax at a time when we wanted to show off the best about out club. I condemn this horrible action.

"There were about 100 supporters who behaved disgustingly."

Thirty three people were released on Monday after paying fines or being cautioned on charges of public drunkenness, setting off fireworks or insulting police. Dutch media reported these arrests were not related to the incidents during the match.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson, editing by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by xx) nL3N0ND2GP