Bizarre revelation about penalty incident in Feyenoord - AZ: Makkelie was not shown the crucial image | Goal.com

Published on 10 Oct 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Kees Kwakman believes AZ were wrongly denied a penalty in the big match against Feyenoord. There was contact between Mexx Meerdink and Tjark Ernst just before half-time, but referee Danny Makkelie was not shown the footage that made it clear on the pitch. 

At De Kuip, Makkelie was shown only side-on images on the screen. After studying them for several minutes, he could not say for certain that Meerdink had been caught. It has since emerged, though, that much better footage was available, clearly showing contact between the two players' feet. 

"How can it be that Makkelie was not shown that footage?" Kwakman fumes on De Eretribune on ESPN. Jan Joost van Gangelen suggests VAR Erwin Blank presumably did not see that footage either. "Yes, so where does that mistake lie then?" Kwakman wonders aloud. 

"They did have that footage. They had the images, but at that moment they did not show them to Makkelie," Aletha Leidelmeijer explains. Kwakman then asks how the footage is selected in the VAR booth. 

"I don't think the VAR does that himself. He gets help with that, doesn't he?" said Kwakman. "I think if Makkelie had seen this footage, he would have let the penalty stand. If the VAR had seen this, he would not even have called him over to the screen."

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After the match, Ernst said on ESPN that Makkelie had explained the decision to him. "After the match I spoke briefly to the referee, and he said that there may well have been slight contact, but that it was not enough for a penalty." 

"I can now see that my foot moves a little bit. But the referee said that, in his view, it was not enough for a penalty. Also because the ball was going out, and because the contact was very slight. But at the moment itself I felt nothing," Ernst said.

ESPN

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