Jan Willem van Dop wants to know from referee boss Raymond van Meenen why Bas Nijhuis is not allowed to referee FC Twente matches. If the reason is that the referee comes from the same region, the director of Go Ahead Eagles finds it strange that Marc Nagtegaal was allowed to referee last weekend at Feyenoord – Go Ahead Eagles (1-0). Nagtegaal is a local police officer in Rotterdam.
Feyenoord managed to beat Go Ahead Eagles 1-0 at home on Sunday afternoon, which was with ten men for 75 minutes. The Rotterdam team needed a penalty in injury time for this. The visitors believe that they too deserved a penalty, which is why there has been a penalty in recent days a lot of criticism came from Deventer at referee Nagtegaal.
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On Wednesday evening, Go Ahead organized a sounding board evening, where Van Dop and technical director Marc van Hintum answered various questions. The first question the general manager received was again about last weekend’s arbitration. Van Dop was asked whether he does not find it strange that Nagtegaal, who works as a local police officer at the Rotterdam police, is allowed to referee a Feyenoord match.
“I also know a local police officer, he was a local police officer in Rotterdam, and he is one of our best referees,” Van Dop begins, referring to Danny Makkelie. “He is always quite pro Go Ahead Eagles.” The director thus makes it clear that he does not think the region’s argument is strong. “I grew up in Zwijndrecht. Does that make me a Feyenoord player?” he asks, after which everyone present bursts into laughter. Van Dop was successively financial and general director at De Kuip between 1996 and 2005.
Van Dop knocks on Van Meenen’s door
Van Dop then explains that the only rule at the KNVB is that there may be no family relationship between a referee and a player or trainer. Someone from the audience then says that Nijhuis is not allowed to referee FC Twente matches because he is from the region. “I want to ask Raymond van Meenen what the reason is that that is not allowed. Because I don’t know. I’m going to ask him tonight. He will undoubtedly come up with an answer and I will share it again,” Van Dop concludes the topic.
