Ruben van Bommel’s terrible challenge shows that VAR has totally lost track of when to give a red card.
Does it feel like top-level football has forgotten what a red card really means? Take Saturday night’s Klassieker between Ajax and PSV Eindhoven as an example.
PSV forward Ruben van Bommel went into a challenge on Aaron Bouwman at full speed and with enough force to cause serious harm. Yet, referee Sander van der Eijk only gave him a yellow card. Even more surprising, the video assistant referee (VAR), Pol van Boekel, didn’t step in. He was focused on a possible elbow from Van Bommel, but since the elbow wasn’t clearly sticking out, VAR didn’t see it as dangerous.
It seems like VAR is getting too caught up in tiny details—like whether an elbow is involved—and missing the bigger picture. If a tackle is that strong and dangerous, shouldn’t it automatically be a red card?
This whole situation raises serious questions. How did this happen, and what exactly counts as a red card these days? We need a review—not just in the Eredivisie, but in every league using VAR.
Bouwman is out for the rest of the month after scans showed he has bruises on his chest and lung from the challenge. Ajax said he stayed in the hospital on Sunday for monitoring.
Van Bommel reportedly visited Bouwman in the dressing room after the game. PSV’s coach, Peter Bosz, said Van Bommel was “really upset.” He didn’t join the celebrations, knowing it wasn’t his intention to hurt anyone. Bosz explained, “He thought he’d head the ball away when it bounced up, but only realized Bouwman was close once he was in the air. That’s when the big impact happened.”
Ajax’s Davy Klaassen called Van Bommel’s challenge “definitely a red card.” And Raymond van Meenen, head of refereeing at the Dutch football association, agreed it should have been a sending off. He told AD: “It’s simple. Van Bommel went into the aerial challenge with so much force and speed that he endangered his opponent’s safety. That’s a red card. It doesn’t matter about an elbow—his whole body was the ‘weapon’.”