The penalty that referee Jochem Kamphuis awarded to the home team in the first half of the game between Heracles Almelo and PSV leads to surprise on social media. After half an hour Kamphuis pointed towards the spot after an alleged handball by Nick Viergever; via the penalty, Rai Vloet set the halftime score 1-0 for Heracles.

The much-discussed penalty kick was awarded in minute 29 by referee Kamphuis. A long throw-in by Jeff Hardeveld from the left flank was extended in the penalty area by striker Sinan Bakis, after which Viergever made a movement towards the ball with his arm. The PSV players, including Viergever, protested violently. The ball did not seem to touch Viergever under armpit height, but video referee Christiaan Bax did not intervene.

From the subsequent penalty kick, Vloet hit the right corner. After the goal, Viergever continued to protest to Kamphuis in vain. PSV’s center-back was certainly not the only one who did not agree with the arbitration’s verdict. “They can explain it every time, but if it is different every time then there is simply no longer any rope to make”, writes analyst Arnold Bruggink on Twitter.

Journalist Mike Verweij from The Telegraph can ‘still somewhat imagine’ that Kamphuis awarded a penalty. “I find it incomprehensible that the VAR does not reverse that penalty,” he adds. Rik Elfrink of the Eindhoven Dagbad agrees. “Viergever may take some risk with his movement and it may not be surprising that Kamphuis passes his judgment as a result, but the ball does not hit his arm. VAR Bax let it go unjustly.”

In the studio of FOX Sports Kenneth Perez says the incident is difficult to assess. “If the ball reaches the shoulder, there is nothing wrong. I cannot say with 100 percent certainty whether it is punishable. If the referee had not whistled, play would have continued,” he said. Ronald de Boer adds: “You can’t see it properly on television. I can go along with Viergever.”

The penalty moment was not the only moment in the first half when the arbitration claimed a leading role. In the injury time of the first half, Adrian Szöke scored on behalf of Heracles: the attacker was served by a through pass from Vloet, Viergever was too quick and came face to face with goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo to score. The arbitration took a few minutes to assess whether Szöke was offside at the time of play and then the goal was indeed rejected.