Former Chelsea and Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben shoved a TV presenter in a heated row after being accused of ‘insulting’ the referee during his son’s Under 14s game.
Footage on social media shows Robben, 42, pushing Wilfred Genee, 58, on the sidelines at half-time of a match between FC Groningen U14s and Victoria Hilversum.
Robben, a coach with his son Kai’s team, is involved in a heated exchange with referee Jan Faessen before Genee intervenes.
According to Bild, Robben tells Genee – a Dutch football commentator who was watching his son play for Victoria Hilversum – that he should ‘not interfere’.
Robben is then seen pushing Genee before continuing his conversation with Faessen.
Speaking after the match, Genee accused the former Netherlands international of personally insulting him, as well as ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards the officials.
Arjen Robben pushed Dutch commentator Wilfred Genee in a row during an Under-14s game
Footage showed the ex-Chelsea and Bayern star in a heated exchange with the referee
‘He insulted the referee for the entire first half,’ he said. ‘You really think to yourself: “Man, just behave normally”. He’s ambitious, always wants to win, but that was inappropriate behaviour.’
FC Groningen dismissed the claims in a statement on social media. ‘FC Groningen feels the need to respond to the accusations directed at our colleague Arjen Robben by Wilfred Genee.
‘The club denies that Arjen mistreated the referee during or around the match, which has now also been confirmed by the referee himself. What we see and know is that Arjen is fanatical and enthusiastic as a trainer/coach.
‘During the break, he is in conversation with the referee, during which Wilfred Genee – who is present there as a parent – uninvitedly interferes with this conversation, after he had already, unasked, ventured onto the field earlier during the warm-up.
‘As football clubs, we acknowledge together with the KNVB that parental interference around the football field constitutes a recurring problem that we consider undesirable.
‘Since this is a personal conversation between the coach and the referee, we as a club believe that parents should not interfere with this. And because Arjen, in our view, does nothing improper, we consider this matter closed. Arjen has let us know that he has no desire to devote any further attention to this and is fully focusing on his role as trainer/coach.’
Faessen also played down the row in an interview with AD. ‘The first thing I said to Robben was: “I’m not the fastest anymore!”‘
Robben enjoyed a successful playing career before moving into a coaching role, winning eight Bundesliga titles and the Champions League with Bayern during a 10-year spell in Germany.
He also won the Premier League with Chelsea and LaLiga with Real Madrid, and was a member of the Dutch side beaten by Spain in the 2010 World Cup final.
