Organisers revealed late last month that the public celebrations of Dutch champions Ajax almost had to be called off because the vibrations caused by more than one hundred thousand fans, in typically boisterous mood, tripped sensitive seismological equipment that was designed to stop damage to surrounding historic buildings. The strict precautions are designed to protect the Museumplein – where the celebrations were held – which is situated atop marshy soil.
A timelapse recording of the event gives a sense of the joyous day as Ajax fans celebrated their 34th league title and made sure to sing commiserations to rivals and second-place-getter PSV Eindhoven with the Monty Python song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
Het Museumplein tijdens de huldiging. Van de eerste bezoeker tot de laatste medewerker van de reiniging in 32 seconden. #AjaxKampioen #huldiging #timelapse pic.twitter.com/BpXrDsRfP0
— Gemeente Amsterdam (@AmsterdamNL) May 16, 2019
The two times the equipment was tripped was when the father of celebrated Ajax player Abdelhak Nouri appeared on stage. Nouri is recovering from severe brain damage after suffering a cardiac arrest during a 2017 match.
As NL Times reported, ‘Twice in a row it was close, one of the organisers was quoted in the local media. To prevent damage to surrounding homes and museums, vibrations caused by events may not exceed 1.2 mm per second.
‘Then action must be taken immediately on stage. At 1.8 mm it is over and out. Fortunately that was it. We would have had to intervene at a third time. Three yellow cards is a red one for the organizers.’
Read the original article here.
