In the premier league and the Kitchen Champion Division, no fewer than four matches were temporarily halted on Friday evening after objects were thrown onto the field.
In the Eredivisie things went wrong at FC Twente – NEC (4-0). Referee Danny Makkelie temporarily stopped the game after supporters of the home club from Enschede threw at least a drinking cup on the field when they were happy about their team’s 2-0.
Referee Makkelie had to temporarily interrupt the game according to the stricter rules of the KNVB. ,,I myself have not seen that at least one cup was thrown,” said the arbitrator at ESPN. “But my assistant did and so did the VAR. Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen could only just avoid that cup. This is just a signal. We agreed that we don’t want this. Everyone has been asking for this approach. So we have to follow the rules.”
Cillessen saw the full cup of beer coming and ducked to the side. If the NEC goalkeeper had been hit by the plastic cup, the match would have had to be stopped definitively, according to the stricter measures of the KNVB. These were introduced last month after Davy Klaassen was hit by a lighter during the cup match between Feyenoord and Ajax in De Kuip. Since then, cups of beer regularly fly onto the field, so that in the past month quite a few matches have been temporarily stopped or even stopped and later played in an empty stadium, such as at FC Groningen – NEC and NAC – Willem II.
A division lower, it went wrong in three matches. At FC Eindhoven – Helmond Sport (0-1), referee Nick Smit stopped the match according to the guidelines of the KNVB after beer cups were thrown on the field by celebrating fans of Helmond Sport after Jelle Goselink’s goal. Smit sent both teams into the dressing rooms. After a short cooling-off period, the game could be completed.
Shortly afterwards, the match between FC Den Bosch and Almere City (2-2) was stopped. Referee Luuk Timmer sent both teams to the changing rooms after beer cups were thrown on the field by the celebrating supporters of the home team when Nick de Groot equalized.
At PEC Zwolle – Roda JC (3-1) referee Sander van der Eijk intervened. Shortly after substitute Tolis Vellios’ goal, which was celebrated with flying beer cups, the referee also temporarily stopped the game in Zwolle.
According to the rules of the KNVB, a referee must permanently stop the match if an object is thrown on the field a second time. That did not happen in all matches, so that they were ‘just’ played out. Duels are permanently stopped if players, trainers or the referee are hit by objects.
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