“Referee ruins cup final”

DAMES In an exciting cup final, referee Jana Van Laere unfairly sent Anderlecht's Vatafu off the field, which had a significant impact on the remainder of the match. Laura De Neve, player of RSCA Women, expressed her disappointment after the match, “We are of course very disappointed. We always play for first place and not for second. It is very sad that an arbitration error at a crucial moment seriously affected our chances of winning.”


“The incident with Vatafu, who was unfairly red carded, shows once again that VAR is not a luxury in this kind of match.” (There is no VAR in women's soccer, ed.)

The trainer of the RSCA Women was also not pleased with the referee's blunder. He stressed the importance of highly qualified referees for high-level matches: “It seems people don't think this is necessary for women's soccer. Anyone can make a wrong decision, but when the fourth referee, who is in communication with the head referee, indicates that at most it should have been a yellow card, it is regrettable that this radical decision was not reviewed. We did not lose this cup final to the Standard, but by circumstances that should never take place in this kind of competition.”

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