Chris Kavanagh was the man in the middle for Ajax’s 2-1 Europa League defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday night, although the Amsterdam giants reached the last 16 thanks to a 3-2 aggregate victory
Premier League ref Chris Kavanagh and VAR officials Peter Bankes and Michael Salisbury have found themselves at the centre of huge controversy after officiating Ajax’s dramatic Europa League tie against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday night.
As the Belgian side chased a late equaliser – they were winning 2-1 on the night but trailed 3-2 on aggregate – Union forward Kevin Rodriguez was clattered by Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer in the final seconds of extra-time.
Rodriguez got to the ball first before being wiped out, yet both ref Kavanagh plus VAR officials Bankes and assistant Salisbury chose to ignore the incident.
Much to the fury of the Belgian Jupiler Pro League outfit, Kavanagh was not even instructed to check the monitor as 10-man Ajax reached the last 16 by the skin of their teeth following Kenneth Taylor’s 93rd-minute penalty.
It has since emerged that following medical assessment, Ecuador international attacker Rodriguez suffered a broken nose from the impact of the challenge and the farce has been labelled a ‘disgrace’ in the Belgian press.
Rodriguez was left badly bruised in the dressing room after the match having been struck by the fists of Pasveer and he was pictured holding a blood-soaked towel.
Union striker Promise David, who had put his side 2-0 up on the night, blasted the English officials, stating: “We were robbed. We all saw it. It was an attack.
“When a goalkeeper hits a player in the face and his nose is bloody, you would imagine that at the very least the referee would go and see the footage. But he didn’t do even that. We feel robbed. But that’s also part of football. We gave it our all and we’re proud of what we showed in this competition.”
Alexis Mac Allister’s brother Kevin, who opened the scoring for Union, added: “Maybe the referee didn’t have enough personality at that moment to award a penalty.
“I told him there was no point in going to watch the pictures, that Kevin’s bloody face said enough. You can accept defeat, but when you lose because of a referee… we go home empty-handed, but that’s not going to keep him awake at night.”
Kavanagh, who caused a storm earlier in the season when he dismissed Declan Rice against Brighton for kicking the ball away, does not referee in the Premier League this weekend but he is on VAR for Ipswich’s clash with Tottenham later this afternoon.
Bankes is the VAR official for Newcastle against Nottingham Forest on Sunday while Salisbury takes charge of Bournemouth against Wolves. The incident has only heightened scrutiny of the standard of refereeing within the English game.
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