And whether they are furious at Standard. The Rouches published a particularly extensive statement on the club’s website on Sunday, in which they announce that a complaint is being filed after Moussa Sissako‘s disallowed goal.
“Standard regrets VAR‘s decision to disallow Moussa Sissako’s winning goal at the very end of the game for an offside trap that is totally invisible to the naked eye,” the statement said.
“If football fans have the right to regret the misunderstandings that may arise from the misuse of such technological means aimed at gradually changing the spirit of the game and taking away the natural character of football, then the exploitation should at least be impeccable. This was not the case in this situation. Far from it,” emphasizes the club.
“In order to make the decision previously validated by the referee and his assistant to cancel this goal, the VAR had to surgically draw a double 3D line at the precise moment the Standard player touched the ball during a free kick. “
“However, without knowing exactly when the reference line of the last Cercle Brugge defender was drawn that led to offside, it is clear that it was drawn incorrectly at the very least,” Standard argues.
Indeed, the image shows very clearly that the reference point taken to draw this line is not the most posterior point of the Bruges defender’s body (his hip clearly extends beyond the dotted line shown in the image) it continues.
“This obvious error completely distorts the layout of the line and the comparison with the line at the end of its goalscorer’s head, rendering any supposedly indisputable conclusion as inaccurate as it is false,” the club lamented.
Standard also underlines that “VAR’s primary role is to assist the referee in his decisions and not to impose them” and that the video assistant should only intervene in the case of an obvious mistake or a serious missed incident. “The stage in question cannot fall into either of these two categories at any time.”
Standard finds it “completely incomprehensible that the referee was not called upon to judge the action himself” especially because it was a “capital decision at the end of a match”.
“We must therefore conclude that this concerns several errors which in no way fall within the domain of interpretation or assessment. It is simply a question of the pure and simple application of the rules in force. For all these reasons, Standard de Liège has decided to file a complaint,” the message concluded.
Standard clarifies to Belga that the club lawyers have been asked to file a complaint with the referees department of the KBVB, where it hopes “to be heard”.
