As reported by Het Nieuwsblad, the Belgian referee’s department has rejected Gent’s request for the VAR recordings that took place when Tajon Buchanan appeared to elbow Gift Orban. Despite clear video evidence of the incident, Buchanan was not reprimanded for the act and continued to play. Club Brugge went on to win the game 2-0.
In their statement, Gent said ‘Our club wants transparency about what happened in Bruges last Sunday and will ask clear questions about it. What exactly was communicated between VAR and referee? How does Kevin Van Damme himself explain what cannot be explained?’.
Following the game, striker Gift Orban was also left bemused as to how nothing was done about the incident.
However, the referee’s department has stated that these recordings are not available for anything other than training purposes. This is in accordance with the rest of the international football community who also use the VAR system. On Friday a press conference will take place in Tubize where journalists can ask questions to referee boss Herbert Fandel and possibly also Bertrand Layec.
Gent are not the only team to have issued a complaint about VAR and its decision making at the weekend. Cercle Brugge are also concerned following an incident that has now resulted in their AS Monaco loanee goalkeeper Radosław Majecki being out for the next six weeks.
GBeNeFNÂ |Â Ben Jackson
