The Video Assistant Referee has salvaged several situations in some matches, but has also received a lot of criticism from fans, pundits, and the sports community
KAA Gent's forward, Gift Orban, has fired back at the video assistant referee's refusal to signal a foul in their match against Club Brugge.
The Buffalos were hoping to build on their European Conference League success against Qarabağ FK, but the Blue-Blacks spoilt the party by defeating them by a score of two goals to none.
Gift, who could only muster one shot throughout the match, was challenged by Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan, who then elbow-punched the forward in the face.
The match official who could have called a foul after that chose not to do so. Despite the obvious evidence, the video referee also declined to step in.
💬 Gift Orban: “Ik weet niet wat de VAR doet in België” https://t.co/PE31edAGUC #clugnt #jpl pic.twitter.com/9jmv9huiWF
— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) February 26, 2023
After the match ended, the 20-year-old Nigerian, who was unhappy with the video referee's decisions, criticised the VAR.
“I don't know what the VAR does in Belgium,” he remarked through the club's website.
The Nigerian continued to blast the choice by scowling at the obvious foul shown on the video and discussing what the referee could have done to make things fair.
“Everyone has seen the images, there is no need for any doubts. The reason for VAR's existence is precisely to see and penalize such actions. When something like this happens in a small league – without VAR – you can still understand it somewhat. “ he said.
While Orban's lips began to bleed, Erik Lambrechts, the match referee, did not request intervention or question the challenge despite this.
“When you see that, as a referee, you have to contact your assistant and ask, ‘What happened here?’. Instead, he was yelling at me,”. he added.
The loss at the Jan Breydel Stadium cost Gent the final ticket to the Champions' playoffs, and they would be hoping to get back to winning ways when they face Anderlecht.
Photo credit: KAA Gent/Twitter
