Euro 2020, storm on referee Makkelie for a ‘light’ penalty in England

The day after England’s 2-1 win at Wembley against Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final, a victory arrived in extra time thanks to a ‘generous’ penalty awarded by the referee, there is controversy over the conduct of Dutch whistle Danny Makkelie. As admitted by Kane and other English players, the foul on Sterling was imperceptible, but the criticism was fueled by the whole conduct of the affair that led to the award of the penalty. Everyone on TV could see that at the moment of the thrust on the right wing of the Manchester City player there was a second ball wandering the field, an episode that could have led to the interruption of the game. In the eye of the storm there is also the Var, an error of assessment by the Dutch referee in the Wembley bedlam may also be there, but the incorrect assessment of the images on the monitor of compatriot Pol van Boekel has fewer justifications. Makkelie, who works as a police officer by profession, is not new to mistakes, the latest in chronological order was the one in the World Cup qualifying match between Serbia and Portugal last March 27, a shot by Ronaldo in the 94th minute match at 2-2, with the ball that clearly crosses the goal line rejected in a slide by Stefan Mitrovic and the referee who does not award the goal. The anger of CR7 then went around the world with the infuriated Juventus striker who leaves the field before the triple whistle throwing the captain’s armband to the ground. To pay for the ‘oversight’ was the linesman Mario Diks who did not raise the flag indicating the validity of the goal. For his part, Makkelie apologized for the mistake in a match, like all World Cup qualifiers, which did not include the Var. “According to FIFA policy, all I can say is that I apologized to the coach of the national team, Mr. Fernando Santos, and with the Portuguese team for what happened. As a referee team we always work hard to make good decisions. referee in an interview with the Portuguese newspaper ‘A Bola’. Confidence in the Dutch whistle’s abilities was demonstrated in the nomination for the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals between Real Madrid and Chelsea (1-1 ed), a challenge that came one week after the announcement of the Superlega project which has the president of the ‘blancos’ Florentino Perez as the protagonist. For Makkelie yesterday was the fourth presence in the European Championship, he was entrusted with the opening match of the tournament, Italy-Turkey, the Finland-Russia match valid for the one-day phase and England-Germany in the round of 16.