Although BVB’s elimination from the Champions League was certainly justified from a sporting point of view, Dortmund’s anger was directed at referee Danny Makkelie after the game. This was not the first time he had made a questionable decision with the VAR.
The referee is often the bogeyman in sport, as was the case on Tuesday evening at Stamford Bridge in London. Danny Makkelie had a penalty repeated on the advice of VAR. Technically, the replay was correct, but VAR shouldn’t have called Makkelie’s attention to it ().
At Borussia Dortmund they were beside themselves, advisor Matthias Sammer described the referee as “very, very arrogant people”, midfielder Emre Can explained: “In the end we lost undeservedly, also because of the referee”. BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke etched against the: “You always had the bad feeling that he wanted to be the most important man on the pitch”. Tuesday was quite justified, receded into the background.The focus is on Makkelie, also because the 40-year-old, who is actually considered one of the best referees in the world, has repeatedly been the focus of attention in recent years – even if he is not was always to blame.
Makkelie is criticized by coaches and referees
In July 2021, football England was feverish with the Three Lions. At the European Championship, which was postponed by a year due to the corona pandemic, the English played against Denmark in the semifinals for a place in the final in London. As the game went into overtime, a man took center stage where he certainly doesn’t want to be: referee Danny Makkelie. Raheem Sterling went down when the Danes dribbled in the penalty area and Makkelie immediately pointed to the spot. England’s captain Harry Kane converted the decisive 2: 1, the video referee did not intervene before.
To the incomprehension of many, Sterling was enough for minimal contact to theatrically sink to the ground. “Sterling tried to make contact, it was clearly not enough for a penalty,” said former top referee Urs Meier after the game at “”. He thought at first that there had been contact, but changed his mind when he saw the replay. “It is absolutely incomprehensible to me that he (the VAR, editor’s note) did not at least send the referee in front of the screen to look at the scene again,” said Meier and also received support from other quarters. Arsène Wenger, Arsenal London manager for many years and an icon on the island, also criticized the VAR (“In moments like these, I don’t understand why the video assistant doesn’t ask the referee to look at it”), for star coach José Mourinho it was “never a penalty”.
A few months earlier, Makkelie and his team of referees had also come under criticism: in the World Cup qualifier between Serbia and Portugal, Makkelie and his line judges missed a clear goal from Portugal’s superstar Cristiano Ronaldo – neither goal-line technology nor VAR were in use at the time. The game ended 2-2 – Serbia and Portugal (via the play-offs) eventually qualified for the World Cup. Nevertheless, Ronaldo foamed after the game and let his frustration run wild on Instagram. “There are times that are difficult to deal with, especially when you feel like an entire nation is being hurt,” Ronaldo wrote, while Portuguese media wrote of a “theft!” Makkelie saw his mistake after the game and apologized to the Portuguese team and national coach Fernando Santos. “The referee apologized and I have a lot of respect for him,” said Santos, who was still annoyed at the goal not being awarded.
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
