Sports association NOC*NSF is disappointed with the dissatisfaction of kickboxer Rico Verhoeven about his video with VVD party leader Dilan Yeşilgöz in the run-up to the House of Representatives elections. Yeşilgöz was the first in a series of party leaders with whom NOC*NSF made a video to draw attention to government investments in sports. World champion Verhoeven said on Monday in the talk show Beau that it now seems as if he supports the VVD.
“We find this very annoying for Rico and those around him and we are happy to help correct this misunderstanding,” a spokeswoman for NOC*NSF responds. The sports umbrella organization has now also published videos of GroenLinks-PvdA party leader Frans Timmermans, with former footballer Nathan Rutjes, and Rob Jetten. The D66 member talked to former athlete Dafne Schippers. More videos are coming in the coming weeks in the run-up to the House of Representatives elections on November 22.
“I didn’t find it funny what the trend of this became,” Verhoeven said about the video in which he spars and talks with Yeşilgöz. “I now seem pro-VVD, but that was not the aim of this whole thing.” The sports association says that Verhoeven was initially happy with the video. “He also shared it on his own channels, just like Timmermans, for example. We think that’s fine. The video of Verhoeven and Yeşilgöz has now already been viewed a million times.”
The spokeswoman indicates that there was also some commotion on social media when the video was published about two weeks ago. “Then everyone fell over us, as if we were only giving the VVD the platform. But we immediately added that more party leaders would follow.”
NOC*NSF also says that the videos were made at their own expense and that the athletes were not paid to participate.
