PSV-Ajax temporarily halted after throwing plastic cup toward Berghuis

The premier league match PSV-Ajax was temporarily halted in the 60th minute after a plastic cup was thrown onto the pitch. The Eindhoven players were leading 2-0 at the time. After a cooling off period, the match, which eventually ended 3-0, resumed.

Referee Serdar Gözübüyük sent the teams in as directed. Television footage showed no one was hit. However, a cup did fly near Ajacied Steven Berghuis.

The PSV players reacted furiously to the fan’s behavior. There was also a commotion in the stands and fellow supporters wanted to seek redress from the suspected perpetrator.

The KNVB recently tightened guidelines after several incidents in stadiums. If objects are thrown onto the field, the match will be temporarily suspended. For a second offense, the game is permanently stopped according to the new guidelines.

On Saturday things already went wrong in the match between FC Groningen and NEC. At a 0-0 score, a linesman was hit by a mug of beer thrown from the crowd.

The game was stopped in the 18th minute and will be played next Tuesday. Last week, NAC Breda against Willem II was also suspended after objects were thrown onto the pitch.

Shurandy Sambo had beer thrown at him after his equalizer in injury time, as did teammates. However, the right back was given his second yellow card by referee Joey Kooij for provoking the Twente fans.

“At first I want to walk to the camera to celebrate my goal, but then I see Twente fans start throwing beer. Then I direct my emotions at them, maybe not well,” Sambo said.

“But yes, if you saw FC Groningen against NEC on Saturday…. Then they do all go in. Now I get my second yellow card and have to get off the field.”

Sparta coach Maurice Steijn had a clear opinion about the incident in Enschede. “I think the Twente crowd is insane, it’s always a party. But if nothing is allowed to be thrown on the pitch…”

“It already starts with those blue balls on the field, whether it’s playful or not. That’s then accepted. Then we score and my players are thrown under the beer. Sambo just cheers to the camera.”

Steijn therefore felt that the game should have been stopped by referee Kooij after Sambo’s 3-3.

“That seems to me to be the case, right? That’s the deal, isn’t it? Now it’s being turned around and my player is being sent off the field.”

A match was stopped in Germany on Sunday, though. The third-level duel between FSV Zwickau and Rot-Weiss Essen lasted one half after referee Nicolas Winter got a load of beer full in the face while leaving the field after the halftime signal.

Winter decided to forgo the second half. The Zwickau supporter is likely to face a hefty penalty.

What will happen to the game is not yet clear. The score at the time the incident occurred was 1-1.