‘I think this is really scandalous’: Heerenveen manager Robin Van Persie blasts officials after opponent Fortuna Sittard are allowed to play with 12 men | Football News

In a controversial incident in the Dutch League, the match officials makenly allowed Fortuna Sittard to field 12 players against Heerenveen which left the latter’s manager Robin Van Persie fuming.
In the 88th minute, Heerenveen was 2-1 up which led to Fortuna making two changes where Ryan Fosso and Jasper Dahlhaus came on for Darijo Grujcic and Owen Johnson but Dahlhaus still stayed on th field and played for nearly a minute which gave Fortuna a man advantage.
After van Persie saw what had transpired he protested to the match officials and eventually Dahlhaus came off the field. As fate would have it, however, Rodrigo Guth would equalize for Fortuna in the 90th minute as the two sides shared points.

Een verbouwereerde Robin van Persie voor de camera nadat Fortuna Sittard met 12(!) man in het veld stond🤯
“Dit kun je toch niet bedenken?!”
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) February 1, 2025
“I find what preceded that goal very special. Fortuna Sittard had twelve men on the field for a minute before that throw-in. Apparently that is allowed and possible. You can’t imagine that? That it is simply allowed,” van Persie said in the post-match chat as per ESPN.
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“Normally I never talk to referees and always let them do their job, but it can’t be that they play with twelve men. That’s unthinkable. So I asked the fourth official: ‘Shouldn’t you do something about that?’” he added.
When he was asked what he wanted to be done, the former Dutch striker called for the goal to be struck off, labelling the situation ‘scandalous.’
“For example, reverse that goal. You can’t play with twelve men against eleven. I really can’t understand that. I think this is really scandalous,” he said.

Van Persie, who took over Heerenveen in May, has the Dutch side currently at 10th after 21 matches.
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