Dutch Referee Criticism after Defeat

The Netherlands were eliminated from the European Championship in football after 1–2 against England. After the match, team captain Virgil van Dijk directed great anger towards referee Felix Zwayers' performance. It says it all that he ran away directly after the match, says van Dijk.

» Updated: July 16 2024

» Published: July 11 2024

Dutch Referee Criticism after Defeat
Photo: Andreea Alexandru/AP/TT

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The Netherlands were eliminated from the European Championship after 1–2 against England.

After the match, team captain Virgil van Dijk directed great anger towards referee Felix Zwayers' performance.

It says it all that he ran away immediately after the match, says van Dijk.

In the semifinal against England in Dortmund, the Netherlands were awarded a penalty, which has since been heavily debated. England's Harry Kane shot the ball towards the goal, and in the same movement, he hit Denzel Dumfries' arm, which was enough for referee Felix Zwayer and the VAR room to award a penalty.

After the match, the Netherlands' team captain Virgil van Dijk was not entirely satisfied with the refereeing.

I don't know if I should say so much, really... But I said it directly to the Dutch media as well, I think it says it all that he ran away immediately after the match, I didn't have time to shake hands with him, says the defender to BeIN Sports and continues:

The match is over, we lost and it's very tough to swallow. There were moments where it was completely obvious that it should have gone our way, but it didn't.

Zwayer has previously been suspended for match-fixing, and when the Dutchman was later asked if he thought it was the right decision to let him referee, he became visibly annoyed.

What do you want me to answer to that? Do you want me to get into trouble here? He refereed our match against Romania too, and then he made no mistakes. Stop trying to create problems for me, said van Dijk in the mixed zone.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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