At 22 years, “soon 23″, Antoine is passionate about football and practices his passion by being a referee. Only, five years after his debut, Antoine says to himself “disgusted” of the world of football and do not “recognizes more in the Belgian Union.” An observation that pushes the young ‘man in black’ to take a break in his refereeing career.
However, Antoine is a badass. He who has already made himself”break the jaw” by the brother of a player he refereed. “A player’s brother came on the field and punched me in the face (sic)”, says Antoine, who was refereeing a U14 youth match when the incident occurred. “I had my jaw broken, the guy got convicted etc.”he says.
A misadventure which did not prevent him from putting on his crampons once cured. Yet the violence and animosity around the pitches”especially as an amateur never stop touching Antoine and his colleagues. “There aren’t many people at amateur meetings so you can hear what people are saying very well. We often hear insults calling us sold out, corrupt, assholes…”
But today, Antoine’s cup is full. “With everything that’s going on at the moment, I’m disappointed”he explains, referring to all the excesses of players in the world of football, Belgian in particular.
“For me, what is lacking in the Belgian Union is the lack of transparency in relation to what happened in terms of corruption, etc. [dans le dossier du footbelgate, ndlr]. For messing with all the conflicts of interest that exist between UB and the clubs [de Pro League] as with Vincent Manaert (Club Bruges) who was also at the Belgian Union and who is linked to footbelgate affairs. Same thing with Mehdi Bayat (former president of the Belgian Union and managing director of Sporting de Charleroi), the same with the former president of Genk Peter Croonen [qui a occupé la présidence du KRC Genk en même temps que le poste de président de la Pro League, avant de démissionner].”
It feeds me deep inside
The problem that Antoine raises here is unfortunately very specific to Belgian football. The Union Belge as well as the Pro League are filled with members of club management, which raises an obvious question of conflict of interest. “I find it scandalous that we find club presidents in the Belgian Union”claims for his part Antoine.
A month ago, on January 14, the federal prosecutor’s office announced that it wanted to bring 57 people to justice in the case of suspected fraud in Belgian football.
Among these 57 people, the gratin of Belgian football with the management of FC Bruges, Sporting de Charleroi, the former historic management of RSC Anderlecht but also the president of Standard, Bruno Venanzi.
“Still the president of Standard who sells Klauss and Al-Dahkil to Saint-Trond to stifle the shenanigans he did there… All that is beyond me and… Pfff”, still laments Antoine, his throat knotted. “It feeds me deep inside. I think it has no place in football obviously.”
He is against the VAR
In addition to the mafia systems in the upper echelons of Belgian football which we will not be able to describe in this article, for an obvious lack of space, Antoine is also disappointed with what he sees on the ground and particularly by the latest controversial decisions VAR, video referee assistance.
“When I see the decisions of the VAR, I want to tell myself that there is still something not clear in this championship.explains the young referee.
It’s too much for Antoine who has “made the decision to take an indefinite break, refocus on myself and ask myself the right questions about why I am refereeing.”
This inhabitant of Aubel, in the province of Liège, assures us that he has “always this passion” for soccer. Besides, he does not think he will be able to stay away from his beloved grounds for very long. “I will probably resume before the end of the season but there I need to stop. I’m afraid of picking up, having nothing left to shake and quitting completely.”
“I’m not the only one”
The problem with what Antoine knows is that he is “not the only one to be disgusted”. “I spoke about it with some referees, some tell me not to worry about what is above.”
To make matters worse, “we are in complete shortage of referees, it is even one of the major problems of Belgian football.” One more.
This “major problem” evoked by Antoine is well taken into account by the Belgian Union which is struggling to recruit as many referees as possible. The situation is so urgent that Antoine describes it as such: “It regularly happens that matches of reserve and P4 do not have a referee. It’s a real disaster, for half [des matchs] from championship in P4, regardless of the region, the match must take place without a referee. It’s often one of the club members or a supporter who does it instead.”
“The Belgian Union does not have the c***** to take such a decision”
Antoine, who works in security, is also a steward at Standard de Liège. The growing animosity of supporters in the stadiums, he is a privileged witness.
In recent months, incidents in stadiums have multiplied, culminating in the invasion of the pitch by Standard supporters during the Walloon derby against Charleroi.
These troublemakers had interrupted the meeting, while there were a few minutes left to play, to cross the field and go and provoke the Charleroi supporters. A smoke bomb was even fired at the Carolos stand.
“As long as UB does not solve this football law problem, there will always be incidents like this and we risk having injuries and deaths.warns Antoine.
This ‘Football Law’ reports that “as soon as you enter a match time zone (from 3 hours before until 3 hours after the match), it is forbidden to use any pyrotechnic device inside and outside the stadium., explains the young man of 22 years, who had to study this law as part of his training. Under pain of what”during the match, an intrusion, a fight, the throwing of a projectile, etc., is reprehensible”, continues Antoine. “In Belgium we only have a 3-year stadium ban and a 2,000 euro fine. It’s ridiculous. In England it’s a lifetime ban and you hardly ever see any overflows.”
“The UB must intervene at the government level to change this otherwise we will have injuries and deaths”, warns the occasional steward. “But the Belgian Union doesn’t have the c**** to make such a decision”he still regrets.
