Bekker And Bobby Put CPL Officiating On Blast
Excerpts of the following story by John Jacques are courtesy of the Northern Tribune on October 3, 2023 https://northerntribune.ca/forge-fc-referee-criticism-2023/.
Forge’s captain and coach put out some heavy complaints about the quality of officiating in Canada’s domestic top flight.
The three-time CPL champions had travelled out east to face the Halifax Wanderers, dropping the result 2-1 amidst controversial penalty decisions.
“It was a great game of football. There were two teams that had a great first half,” opened Forge captain Kyle Bekker after the match, giving little hint of the tirade that was about to come.
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“I think the guys wanted to play, and something that we’ve seen over the last five years which is just shocking… the refs are seemingly getting worse and worse. There’s really nothing much else to talk about: you had two teams who wanted to come out and do something. Unbelievable atmosphere here in Halifax, and it’s another game that is just absolutely ruined because the ref wants to make it about themself.”
“Week-in and week-out we see this, and no one talks about it,” added the midfielder, who evidently does not read Northern Tribune. “It just gets worse. No one holds them accountable. They’ve got a guy at the top who just acts with impunity, he thinks he’s special, comes in to every single team, shakes everyone’s hand, and they just act like they’re bigger than everything else.”
“It’s crazy. You see it week-in and week-out,” Becker emphasized again. “This isn’t just a Forge thing, by the way. This isn’t because they missed the penalty kick [in the Wanderers match], it happens to both sides. It’s calls throughout the game that they blatantly miss, and then there’s make-up calls every single time. They make it about themselves. They hand out bench yellow cards left and right, for what? What is the point?”
The club’s loss in Halifax saw yellow cards handed out to both benches through Bobby Smyrniotis and Jorden Feliciano respectively, who had both received yellows in their last matchup, too.
For the remainder of the story, please go to John Jacques story Bekker And Bobby Put CPL Officiating On Blast at: https://northerntribune.ca/forge-fc-referee-criticism-2023/.
Source: https://northerntribune.ca/forge-fc-referee-criticism-2023/