Reinold Wiedemeijer, referee coordinator at the KNVB, understands why no card was awarded to Edson Álvarez in the match between FC Twente and Ajax on Sunday afternoon. The midfielder of the team from Amsterdam was not penalized for a slap he handed out on the back of the head of Michal Sadílek on Sunday afternoon. Referee Dennis Higler did not observe the incident and VAR Jochem Kamphuis did not intervene. Bee This was the Weekend Kenneth Perez and Wiedemeijer make it clear that Kamphuis was of the opinion that Álvarez deserved a yellow card and the VAR is not authorized to intervene in such a situation.
Even before Wiedemeijer speaks, Perez explains the rules with a wink. “There has to be a certain intensity in it for a red card. Higler probably didn’t see it himself. He could have given a yellow, but the VAR can’t indicate that. The VAR can’t do that,” said the analyst, who gets approval. by the referee coordinator of the KNVB. “Kenneth has worded it very well. Higler does not see it, because he follows the attack of Ajax. It happens behind his back. The VAR has assessed: is it violent or not, is it hitting or not? after viewing the images often, that it has no violent impact. Then it is yellow and with yellow you do not intervene as VAR.”
??? Reinold Wiedemeijer explains why Edson Álvarez did not receive a red card against FC Twente. “There has to be a certain intensity in it” pic.twitter.com/YatlNRKFHA
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) August 22, 2021
Watch the images of Edson Álvarez’s slap on Michal Sadílek here.
Wiedemeijer agrees with comments from presenter Jan Joost van Gangelen and analyst Kees Kwakman that the violation of the frustrated Álvarez ‘has nothing to do with football’. “That’s true, but there has to be a certain intensity in it. Kenneth said that just right. Players who do this, at a time with a VAR, are taking a huge risk. There will be plenty of referees and VARs who will intervene and draw red. If that were to happen, no player doing this would have anything to argue with.”
Kwakman, however, has his doubts about Wiedemeijer’s explanation. “You can’t really sell this, that you can tap someone on the back of the head when the ball is fifty meters away?” The former football player wonders whether the rule has been determined by the KNVB or in an international context. “The rules are not made by the Netherlands, but by UEFA and FIFA. You have a small gray area, but not with these kinds of things,” assures Wiedemeijer. “You follow what has been agreed here: that there must be a certain intensity. Is it really hitting or is it pushing, or more of a little tap? A small tap after kicking is no longer seen as after kicking.”
The explanation of the former referee also leads to furrowed eyebrows on social media. For example, journalist Jeroen Kapteijns of De Telegraaf wrote on Twitter: “It is not red according to Wiedemeijer, but if red had been given for this, the player would not have had to say anything about it. van Wiedemeijer and earlier today Higler does not promote the credibility of the arbitration.” Rik Elfrink of the Eindhovens Dagblad reacts with a wink to Kapteijns and writes that Wiedemeijer can enter politics ‘that way’. Former umpire Mario van der Ende, in turn, cites the rulebook for the current season, which states: “A player who, not in battle for the ball, intentionally strikes an opponent or any other person on the head or face with his hand or arm, is guilty of an act of violence unless the amount of force used is negligible.’
Higler said afterwards that at least Álvarez did not deserve a red card. “The VAR checks that, because there is a player on the floor and that is then checked. The moment it is a possible red card, the VAR will call me. We have just seen it together and for me it is more a push, with a bit of the arm, maybe there’s still a bit of a hand, but not with enough force, so it’s definitely not a red card for me. than the moment we just saw. If I would have seen this on the field, I would have given a yellow card.”