Why I st*bbed my cousin - Disgraced footballer Quincy Promes finally confesses

Dutch footballer Quincy Promes has admitted to stabbing his cousin with a pocket knife during a family celebration in July 2020.

The 34-year-old former Ajax and Spartak Moscow forward, who has remained silent throughout earlier proceedings, broke his silence through his new legal team from the Knoops law firm.

His advocates told the court as reported by ESPN: “In that chaos, Mr. Promes stabbed once with a pocket knife.”

Promes was originally convicted in June 2023 and sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison for the assault.

The incident took place at a family party in Abcoude, near Amsterdam, after a dispute over stolen family jewels escalated into a fight, during which Promes stabbed his cousin once in the knee with a pocket knife.

According to his lawyers, Promes decided to speak out now because he had “lost all trust in the justice system.”

They described how he was interrogated for days in Dubai about unrelated matters, witnessed prisoners being tortured, and felt he was portrayed as a criminal by Dutch authorities.

The former Netherlands international had initially wanted to return voluntarily but was left traumatised, leading him to exercise his right to silence in the first trial.

His new advocates, Gert-Jan and Carry Knoops, said the admission came after an unsettling conversation and that Promes is now seeking psychological help.

They suggested the stabbing occurred “in tumult and in a state of high emotion” and may have involved self-defence.

Promes has requested to testify behind closed doors during the full appeal hearings, scheduled for late November and early December, to avoid further media exposure.

Promes has not given up on his football career. He has previously played for Go Ahead Eagles, FC Twente, Spartak Moscow (twice), Sevilla, Ajax and most recently Dubai United.

The appeal covers both the stabbing case and the drug-trafficking charges, with his lawyers denying any involvement in the cocaine smuggling. This latest development marks a complete reversal from Promes’ earlier stance. Wire-tapped phone calls from 2022 had already revealed him admitting to family members that he wanted to stab his cousin to death, but he had continued to deny the act in court until now.

After avoiding incarceration by residing in Russia (which has no extradition treaty with the Netherlands) and later Dubai, Promes was arrested in Dubai in early 2025 following a Dutch request. He was extradited in June last year and immediately imprisoned upon arrival in the Netherlands.

In February 2024, he was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for complicity in smuggling over 1,300 kg of cocaine through the port of Antwerp in 2020. He was previously sentenced to 18 months in prison for stabbing his cousin in the knee in 2020.

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal rejected a request to release Promes from prison while his appeal process is ongoing, confirming he will remain behind bars for the duration of the proceedings. Meanwhile, prosecutors have challenged the original sentences, asking for a harsher penalty, potentially bringing his sentence to nine years.