KNVB makes a distinction between what supporters are allowed to throw: ball is allowed, beer is not

Should the referee have temporarily stopped the duel between FC Twente and FC Utrecht on Sunday afternoon when a ball was thrown onto the field from the stands?

That is the question now that referees have to comply with the stricter rules of the KNVB, after the ‘lighter incident’ during the cup match between Feyenoord and Ajax.

On Friday evening, the match between NAC and Willem II was stopped after the NAC supporters first threw fireworks and later beer on the field. That happened after the team from Tilburg had scored.

Yesterday, during the game between FC Twente and FC Utrecht, the game continued after a ball was thrown onto the field from the stands where the supporters of FC Utrecht were sitting.

“That also happened with the aim of interrupting a promising attack by FC Twente,” writes RTV Oost.

According to KNVB spokesman Daan Schippers, there is a clear difference between a football and a lighter or a cup of beer. “These are objects with which players can be injured,” explains the KNVB spokesman. “Things that are not used in football.”

According to Schippers, when a ball enters the stands from the field, the game cannot be resumed until the ball has been returned. In both cases yesterday afternoon, before it came down, the ball passed between the many hands of the FC Utrecht supporters on the Bunnikside.

Unavoidable

“It is very annoying”, admits Schippers, pointing to the behavior of FC Utrecht supporters, but according to him it is not something that can be prevented. “It will happen more often, but a football is clearly not the object we are aiming for in the measures we have announced. It will be different if, for example, full beer cups, lighters or coins are thrown towards the field.”

Schippers does indicate that game spoilage is undesirable. “In this case, we will expressly evaluate this and take it up with FC Utrecht. If this gets out of hand in the coming weeks (also elsewhere), we will take action very quickly.”