Referee apologizes to Ronaldo and Portugal for disallowed goal

Dutch ref Danny Makkelie has apologized to the Portuguese NT for denying CR7's potential match-winner in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo was left fuming after his late winner for Portugal was wrongly chalked off in the game against Serbia.

A thrilling FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between Portugal and Serbia came to an anticlimactic finish as Dutch referee Danny Makkelie, an international referee since 2008, disallowed Cristiano Ronaldo’s late winner believing the ball hadn’t crossed the line.

However, replays showed that the ball had, in fact, gone over the line by a few fair inches before it was cleared by Aleksander Mitrovic. He had a discussion with the linesman and chose to stick with his original decision.

Portugal had to settle for a 2-2 draw and Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off the pitch in disgust at the referee’s decision.

The decision by the referee had cost Portugal two valuable points in their World Cup qualifying campaign and Ronaldo a 103rd international goal. However, Danny Makkelie, who had no goal-line technology to review his decision, has owned up to his error.

In disbelief over the call, or lack thereof, Ronaldo stormed off the field, throwing his captain’s armband in a tantrum that has led to global criticism of the Juventus star.

Speaking to A Bola, referee Danny Makkelie stated that he has apologized to the Portuguese team and the coach for what had happened and added that being in the news does not make him or other referees happy.

The ref said: “As per FIFA’s policies, all I can say is that I apologized to the national coach, Fernando Santos, and to the Portuguese team for what happened. As a referee team, we always work hard to make good decisions. When we are in the news in this manner, it doesn’t make us happy at all.”

Ronaldo and co have to dust themselves down quickly ahead of their next Group A clash away at Luxembourg on Tuesday night. As it stands, Portugal are second in the pool on goal difference behind Serbia, who are scheduled to face Azerbaijan next.

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