Dutch referee admits he was wrong not to award penalty despite VAR check in refreshingly honest post-match interview
REFEREE Allard Lindhout admitted he should have awarded Vitesse a penalty against Utrecht in their Eredivisie game’s dying moments.
Lindhout was called by video referee Ingmar Oostrom to check the VAR monitor after Willem Janssen appeared to have fouled Lois Openda inside the area.
The Dutch referee had a look at the replay, which shows Janssen holding on to Openda and then nudging him to the ground, but he deemed there was no offence.
But upon further evaluation, the match official admitted on camera that he should have awarded the visitors a spot-kick at the Stadion Galgenwaard during a refreshingly honest post-match interview.
That would have presented Vitesse with a golden opportunity to score a winner in a game that ultimately ended with a 1-1 draw.
Lindhout told ESPN: “You’ve got a few things to think about. You have your own observation on the field. You see, from my perspective, Openda is holding [the player] too.
“So now that is in your head and what has influenced me too much as well is the way that Openda goes down.
“But, the footage from this side… If I look at it again now. Then the holding from Janssen is pretty obvious.
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“And I saw that during the game as well… So I do understand that VAR would call me over this.
“Well, you have your own observation that you made and in the first instance I saw Openda’s arm going straight in to the air where he may or may not have grabbed on to Janssen’s arm.”
When asked by the reporter if he made a “stupid mistake”, he admitted: “Yes, penalty.”
There have been several instances in English football in which referees’ controversial decisions go unchallenged.
But on this occasion, Dutch football suggests there can be some transparency between refs and fans.
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