Monday, April 3, 2023 at 10:20 am• Wessel Antes • Last update: 10:23

Allard Lindhout will whistle the Classic between Feyenoord and Ajax in the semi-finals of the TOTO KNVB Cup on Wednesday evening. That can be read in the app Football.nl. The 35-year-old referee is therefore facing the first Classic in his career as a referee. Lindhout already whistled his first Dutch top match in September, with the match between PSV and Feyenoord (4-3). It is not yet known who will be in charge during the semi-final between PSV and Spakenburg next Tuesday.

Lindhout is supported in De Kuip by assistant referees Rogier Honig and Rens Bleumink. The fourth official has not yet been announced, while Pol van Boekel and Mario Diks form the video arbitration team. Lindhout whistled the match between FC Twente and Feyenoord (1-1) in January. Then the leader was criticized afterwards because he decided not to punish an obvious handball from Robin Pröpper with a penalty. At the beginning of March, Lindhout whistled his last Ajax match. The team from Amsterdam were then 0-3 too strong for De Graafschap in the quarterfinals.

Slot was furious with Lindhout after the last duel in the Grolsch Veste. “I thought it was an unacceptable moment in the arbitration”, the Feyenoord trainer grumbled in front of the camera. ESPN. “In top matches, standard situations are very important, but refereeing also plays a crucial role in top matches. I find that again today. I’m not going to be cynical, I just think it’s an unacceptable decision. This is clearly a penalty.” The decision not to give Feyenoord a penalty in Enschede does not seem to be fatal: the team from Rotterdam is still the leader and has a lead of no less than eight points on pursuers Ajax and PSV.

The team from Eindhoven will already be in action on Tuesday evening, when the semi-final against second divisionist Spakenburg awaits. Trainer Erik Meijers’ amateur club is supported in the fishing village by 6,300 supporters, while 300 PSV fans have also obtained a ticket. It will most likely be announced on Monday afternoon who will referee the game between Spakenburg and PSV, as that referee is still shielded in Football.nl. The last time PSV took on an amateur club in the cup, it didn’t go very well. Only in the 117th minute did Mohamed Ihattaren crown himself as the match winner by making it 1-2. As a result, PSV finally managed to beat GVVV at Panhuis sports park in 2019.