Usually the fans are the 12th man: Robin van Persie had to experience that this was literally possible in the Eredivisie.
Heerenven’s coach Van Persie, a former world-class player, has seen a lot in his time, but the 2-2 draw between Heerenveen and Fortuna Sittard on Saturday saw him experience something new. The 41-year-old had to witness how Fortuna Sittard played with 12 men for about a minute. It happened just before the end, when the guests wanted to make a double substitution (Grujcic and Johnson for Fosso and Dahlhaus). While Fosso left the field, Dahlhaus remained standing – and suddenly the guests had a player too many.
The incident lasted only about half a minute until the start of the 89th minute – and yet it had serious consequences. At this point, Fortuna were still 2-1 down. With the extra man, Fortuna were awarded a throw-in, after which the referee Erwin Blank was made aware of his mistake and Dahlhaus left the field. The problem was that the throw-in was taken and then led to a corner kick, which in turn resulted in the 2-2 equalizer.
“Bizarre, unbelievable, a bunch of amateurs”
Van Persie was quite stunned, then spoke of a “bunch of amateurs” with regard to the referees and described the whole scenario as “bizarre” and “unbelievable”. The 41-year-old also said, however, that his club would therefore not file a complaint with the Dutch Football Association (KNVB).
The coach, however, was anything but amused, especially since the events also contributed to Heerenveen only getting a point. “I went to the fourth official to ask him if it was normal for Fortuna to have twelve men on the field,” said a visibly frustrated Van Persie after the final whistle, resorting to sarcasm and appearing at a loss: ‘They played with twelve men against us for a minute. The result was a throw-in and that ultimately led to a corner.’
Referee Blank made a mistake that van Persie simply “can’t understand – can you? That something like that happens at this level: 12 against 11 for a whole minute. I find that truly incredible.”
Association turns to IFAB
Even if Heerenveen, according to van Persie, does not want to make a big deal out of this and does not want to make it difficult for the association, the association is now called upon. And he announced that in this case he would like to turn to the International Rules Committee IFAB and ask for advice. “We have asked the arbitration board and the clubs for statements about the exact events,” a spokesperson for the association told ANP, and announced: ‘On the basis of these statements, we will seek the advice of the IFAB. After that, the competition committee for professional football will make a decision.’