A group of some Feyenoord icons, with former chairman Gerard Kerkum as their leader, operated under the name of "Commissie Kerkum" to restructure Feyenoord's future. In December 2006 they published their thoughts and came to the conclusion that Van den Herik should leave the club. Still Van den Herik did not want to leave, but as the decision of the Commissie Kerkum was final he was expected to step back and he announced his retirement in mid December. Van den Herik himself said not the thoughts of the Commissie Kerkum were the key factor for his decision, but the upcoming final result in the fraud case was. The final try of the FIOD in their case against Feyenoord was dismissed on 19 December 2006 and Feyenoord had been cleaned from all blames. When this case was closed Van den Herik decided to step back and was temporary succeeded by Gerard Kerkum himself for the rest of the season, before Dick van Well will take over Van den Herik's position. A new start for the team was announced in January 2007, but the start was interrupted a few days later already. The results of the UEFA commission considering the story about Feyenoord hooligans in Nancy were made public and Feyenoord was excluded immediately from the UEFA Cup competition. The initial fine was reduced to a smaller fine of 60.000 Euros However, the club chose to appeal against the UEFA decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has announced that a final decision will be rendered 9 February 2007 latest.