Historic ruling in Belgium: for the first time a match will be played again after a scandalous VAR error

The disciplinary committee of the

Belgian Football Federation

ordered this Friday the replay of a match in the first division league of this country between

Anderlecht and Genk

, played on December 23,

to correct an error made by the VAR and the referee

of that match, which will be annulled.

The decision, very unusual in the world of football,

responds to a lawsuit filed by Genk

, who ended up losing the match 2-1, and who denounced a poor application of the regulations for a penalty in their favor that ended in a goal but which the match referee,

Nathan Verboomen

, ordered to annul, in the 22nd minute and with the score 0-0, after reviewing the VAR.

In a statement, Genk announced, as an injured club,

the decision of the Federation's disciplinary committee to repeat the match

, which must be resumed from the moment of the error, alleging that Verboomen made a mistake

"in the application of the regulations"

and that

" influenced the development of the match"

, since the ruling was not corrected from the VAR video referee room either.

🖥️ De VAR geeft een penalty aan KRC Genk

❌ Kasper Schmeichel redt vanop elf meter

⚽️ Yira Sor scoort in de herneming

🙅‍♂️ De VAR keurt het doelpunt af

Wat was dat allemaal?

😅 #ANDGNK pic.twitter.com/gmanAQvttG

— Eleven Belgium (NL) (@ElevenBeNL) December 23, 2023

The controversy arises from an invasion of the area when Genk player

Bryan Heynen

took the penalty: Anderlecht goalkeeper,

Kasper Schmeichel

, managed to stop the maximum penalty without being able to block the ball, and the rebound was captured by another attacker from the rival team. ,

Yira Sor

, who finished and scored in the second instance.

However,

the goal was disallowed because Sor had entered the area early

, and the referee gave the ball to Anderlecht to restart play with an indirect free kick.

The error lies in the fact that neither the field referee nor the person in charge of the VAR room appreciated that, before the penalty was taken, an Anderlecht player,

Yari Verschaeren

, had also invaded the area, which should have forced the penalty to be repeated. maximum in favor of Genk.

For the first time a match will be replayed due to a decision judged to be wrong by the VAR.

In Anderlecht-Genk they disallowed a goal due to invasion, but after the game they interpreted that it did not correspond because an opponent had also entered the area.

It's a dangerous precedent... pic.twitter.com/qPVxg3LTeR

— VarskySports (@VarskySports) January 26, 2024

The regulation establishes that, if a penalty ends in a goal, it must be retaken when a player from the attacking team and another from the defending team invade the area prematurely.

At first, the referee department of the Belgian Football Federation had decided, on January 8, that there were no reasons to repeat the match, considering that it was a referee error

"in the appreciation of a fact of the game"

and not

"in the application of the rules of the game"

, according to the Belga news agency.

Genk appealed the decision

and now the Federation's disciplinary committee agreed, although Anderlecht intends to analyze whether the issue can still be appealed to another body, Belgian newspaper Le Soir reported, citing club sources.

Genk, for its part, hopes that

"a date will be found soon to play the match again"

, as they expressed in their statement.