AMSTERDAM — Robin van Persie was left in disbelief this weekend after witnessing a controversial moment in a match where his team, Heerenveen, drew 2-2 against Fortuna Sittard. The ex-Arsenal and Manchester United star, now in charge of Heerenveen, expressed his frustration, claiming that the rival team played with an unfair advantage of 12 players for a brief period during the game.

In standard soccer, two teams each field 11 players. However, a mix-up occurred just two minutes from the final whistle while Heerenveen was leading 2-1. Following a double substitution, Jasper Dahlhaus of Fortuna Sittard remained on the pitch longer than he should have, resulting in the unusual scenario of an extra player being on the field. He eventually left just before Fortuna was awarded a corner, which led to defender Rodrigo Guth scoring the equalizer, bringing the final score to 2-2.

After the match, Van Persie spoke to ESPN, emphasizing the peculiarity of the situation. “I find what preceded that goal very special,” he stated, pointing out that having 12 players on the field, even momentarily, is something he never anticipated. “You can’t imagine that? That it is simply allowed,” he added.

In light of this incident, reports suggest that the Dutch soccer federation will seek guidance from FIFA’s rule-making panel regarding how to address the error that occurred during the substitution. Van Persie expressed a strong belief that Fortuna’s goal should have been disallowed, arguing, “You can’t play with twelve men against eleven. I really can’t understand that.” He added, “I think this is really scandalous. Normally I never talk to referees and always let them do their job, but it can’t be that they play with twelve men. That’s unthinkable. So I asked the fourth official: ‘Shouldn’t you do something about that?’”