Controversy over Nacho Ferri’s hat-trick: the KNVB and Opta at loggerheads

Nacho Ferri scored three times against PEC Zwolle in a 0-7 win, but data agency Opta only credited him with two. The KNVB quickly ruled that the Spaniard had in fact completed a hat-trick.

Feyenoord's opener for 0-1 was first logged as an own goal by Simon Graves, after Ferri's shot struck him before the ball went into the net. ESPN, which uses Opta's data, therefore did not award the goal to the Feyenoord player.

Referee Alex Bos still handed Ferri the match ball after full-time. The official noted that the striker had indeed scored three times. Ferri is therefore also listed as the scorer of the goal on the official match sheet.

"The referee's observation, and therefore the match sheet, are decisive in this," a spokesperson for the Dutch FA confirms to Algemeen Dagblad. "Ferri has officially been credited with the goal," he confirms.

Opta, however, insist it was an own goal by Graves. "We are the official data partner of the Eredivisie. Our figures are decisive for the official statistics used by the media. The KNVB only use their own registration for, for example, the Voetbal.nl app."

The data agency do admit the disputed goal is difficult to judge. "It is a dubious case. It is being analysed by a group of people. We may look at it again later today. But whether it will still change? That chance is very small, unless we suddenly get a new camera angle."

That means Opta could still credit the goal to Ferri if new footage shows his original shot would have gone between the posts without touching Graves.