Martens stops FC Utrecht – RKC for 25 minutes: ‘Where else does it end?’

Sunday, September 19, 2021 at 07:23• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 07:42

The match between FC Utrecht and RKC Waalwijk (2-2) in the Eredivisie was quite messy on Saturday evening, including a 25-minute strike after misconduct by the home fans. After just over twenty minutes, referee Richard Martens stopped the game because objects were thrown on the field from the audience twice. The arbiter had already warned the speaker after cups of beer were thrown after RKC received a penalty.

A few minutes later, after RKC’s equalizer, a lighter and other objects were thrown onto the field from the stands. That was the reason for Martens to insert a cooling off period of just under half an hour. “We have issued a number of warnings. The first time beer was thrown, we had it broadcast. When beer was thrown again en masse, we went to the side to make a statement,” Martens emphasized. ESPN.

“And the third time, not only glasses of beer were thrown, but even lighters. That was cross-border and then we went in.” Martens was asked why he made a point of it, because the players probably have to deal with it every week. “If one glass of beer is thrown, I don’t say that right, but then there is a build-up. But if it gets worse, we have to draw the line somewhere. Then there are even lighters.”

“If we don’t do something about it, where will it end?”, the guide wondered openly. Willem Janssen emphasized that the players did not really realize what exactly was going on. “The moment when we had to go in, that was pretty crazy,” said the FC Utrecht captain. “On the field, the players of both FC Utrecht and RKC did not realize what was going on. Martens gave a warning very quickly and it was also announced, then he decided within two minutes to stop the game.”

“He came up with a lighter and that was the reason for him to get off the field completely,” said Janssen, who thought that was unnecessary. “As a player you want to keep going, we didn’t think it was that bad. Then we were inside and it took quite a while. As a player you don’t have the whole overview, so it is difficult. On the one hand, you know he doesn’t do it for nothing, but as players we didn’t feel like there was chaos or anything.”