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Recently in Lithuanian football, another scandal arose in Šiauliai on Wednesday amid concerns about the referees' work. After losing 1-2 to FBK "Kaunas", "Šiauliai" released an official press statement in which they claim that the "referees ruined the match."
Most of the discussions were sparked by the red card given to "Šiauliai" forward Gediminas Butavičius in the middle of the first half for a foul by referee Marijus Jazbučio. At that time, the score was 1-1: Ričardas Beniušis put the visitors ahead in the third minute, and Belarusian Viktor Afanasenka equalized nine minutes later after a great pass from a teammate, breaking into the penalty area and sending the ball into the far corner of the goal.
Eight minutes after G. Butavičius was sent off, "Kaunas" scored a winning goal - Andrius Velička scored from about 17 meters surrounded by defenders.
Here is the official press statement from "Šiauliai"
The refereeing of the match left an impression as if it were officiating in Lithuanian regional football competitions. The work of the referees can be evaluated at least as unqualified and biased. The referees ruined the match! This is not just our opinion - the same opinion was expressed by the opponents' team coach at the press conference.
With a beautiful game and an even score of 1-1, removing a player for a vague foul in the middle of the field, considering it as intentional to harm the opponent, is at least unethical. The fact that the foul was not worth a red card is evident in the video - football specialists and spectators who watched the match saw it.
As the referees' work this season has already faced not the first similar incident, it logically raises the question of what the Lithuanian Football Federation is doing, what the NFKA leaders are doing. It also raises the question of whether it is worth investing in football in Lithuania at all. The management of "Šiauliai" club will have to find an answer to this question very quickly in order to prepare the team for the next season, as there is no point in having such low-level refereeing.
In our opinion, the referee association should distance itself from the main league sponsor - "Ūkio bankas", as this sponsor transfers money to the referee association for their work.
We declare responsibly that in this match, the "Šiauliai" team played against ten against fourteen, as almost all the referees' decisions were directed against the home team. It remains only to clarify who organized this and to prevent such things from happening again in the Lithuanian A League.
In the second half, the work of the referee was of the lowest level possible. Fouls were awarded that were not there, both to one team and the other. The fans rightly noticed: "The circus left, but the clowns - the referees - remained." In the second half, there was no longer as much anger from the fans - all spectators were laughing at the refereeing.
The "Šiauliai" team played the second half only for their fans. During the break, club leaders, coaches, and the team captain had a meeting in which they decided whether to continue playing the match given such refereeing. However, the team asked to finish the match for the fans.
After such matches, football in Šiauliai, which has received great interest in recent months, experienced another blow, as fans who understand and love football cannot go to matches just to watch one man with a whistle show.
Fans want to support their team - "Šiauliai", which in the opinion of everyone present in the stadium was stronger than "Kaunas" this time, and at the moment, no team in Lithuania is capable of playing against them with ten against fourteen.
After the match, "Šiauliai" coach Saulius Vertelis expressed his joy at his team's performance and fighting spirit. "Even playing ten against fourteen, the team sought to equalize," said the coach. "I can responsibly state that today we were stronger than "Kaunas". If not for this referee decision, we would have not only leveled the score but also won."
Meanwhile, FBK "Kaunas" coach Eduard Malofejevas, a Belarusian, stated that he always speaks only about his team: "The team's job is to play. I don't want to talk about the referees; that's the job of the club management and specialists."
"The level of football in Lithuania is certainly growing," the emotional coach said. "Today "Šiauliai" played the kind of football that I like, the kind that is beautiful for the viewers. Meanwhile, our game did not 'click.' There are a few such matches during the season."
[link="http://www.eurofootball.com/audio/2006_05_24_Siauliai-FBK_Vertelis.mp3"]Audio recording of "Šiauliai" coach Saulius Vertelis's comments in .mp3 format[/link]
[link="http://www.eurofootball.com/audio/2006_05_24_Siauliai-FBK_Malofejevas.mp3"]Audio recording of "Kaunas" coach Eduard Malofejevas's comments on the match in .mp3 format[/link]
[link="http://www.eurofootball.com/audio/2006_05_24_Siauliai-FBK_Malofejevas2.mp3"]Audio recording of "Kaunas" coach Eduard Malofejevas's comments on the refereeing in .mp3 format[/link]
