Martin van den Kerkhof supports his choice to award a yellow card to Maikel van der Werff for his handball in the match between PEC Zwolle and Feyenoord (1-2). The defender of PEC prevented the breakthrough Bryan Linssen from passing. During the match, a furious Arne Slot made it clear that in his eyes Van der Werff had deserved a red card and even the twitterer behind PEC’s account agreed.
“Let it be clear that I understand that many people here might prefer to see a red card”, Van den Kerkhof, the referee on duty, opens in an interview with ESPN† “I didn’t give it because I still had too much doubt whether Linssen really gets possession of the ball and could take it with him in such a way that there is a clear scoring opportunity. I still had too much doubt about that and that’s why I gave a yellow Map.”
The yellow card for Maikel van der Werff can be seen from minute 0:44
Just after Feyenoord had reached 1-1 via Luis Sinisterra, the Rotterdam team were on their way to another goal in the 71st minute. Van der Werff seemed to let Linssen through in the depths, but prevented this by playing the ball with his arm. To the great anger of everyone at Feyenoord, Van den Kerkhof only decided to go yellow. Joey Kooij could have saved the situation as VAR, but grabbed everyone’s surprise
Van den Kerkhof doubts whether Linssen would have controlled the ball. “That is exactly the doubt I have. It is a clear goal-scoring opportunity in which there is a high degree of probability that he will get possession of the ball. He had it so in his back that I still had too much doubt whether he assume the ball in such a way that it would be directly in front of the goalkeeper.”
Now that Van den Kerkhof has seen the images, he does not regret his decision. “I will stick to it. I had a really good view of the field and I also communicated that to the VAR. That was the reason for me to opt for yellow,” said the arbitrator, who does not think that Kooij should put him on hold. should have called order. “Then it really is a clear mistake and in my opinion this is not the case yet.”
Yellow or red? † Martin van den Kerkhof about the much-discussed handball at #PECFEY † pic.twitter.com/OXQFfg485s
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) March 13, 2022
Slot hit the dugout during the game and shouted that Linssen had broken through. Afterwards, he keeps quiet about the moment. “That’s up to you to judge, I’m not going to say anything about that from now on. Let people think something about it, you’re not going to lure me out of the tent anymore. I may say something during the game, but after the game no more,” he explains to ESPN†
PEC announced via Twitter that it would clap its hands during the game. “The VAR, Joey Kooij, was probably just getting nuts, or he had other images,” said the club’s official Twitter account. “It seemed as if Van der Werff was the last man at PEC Zwolle. Anyway, luckily it remains at yellow.” Feyenoord still managed to win the match with a goal from Cyriel Dessers.