FC Heber came out with a second consecutive position regarding the referee's decisions during the team's last three away games in Vratsa, Plovdiv (against FC Krumovgrad) and Sofia (Slavia), BTA reported.
The club from Pazardzhik feels damaged by the referee's decisions and attached a video of specific situations from the matches.
Here is the full text of FC Heber's letter:
To
BFS
Judges Commission of the BFS
The media
"FC Heber 1918's position regarding the continued arbitrariness of referees at the team's away games.
In the third consecutive away from the championship of the efbet League, FC Heber feels damaged by the referee's decisions, which have a direct impact on the final result of the team's matches.
After the match against Botev (Vratsa), our club expressed its specific claims to the refereeing of Wasimir El Khatib and his colleagues from VAR. We never saw consequences for the same from purely disciplinary control and possible punishments for them. After the visit of Krumovgrad, there were again lapses in the management of the meeting, although not so fatal, but irritating due to the absence of objectivity and fairness. In a concrete plan, we list once again the claims we have already made for the meeting in Vratsa, and as an addition to this, we will list our other arguments for the matches with Krumovgrad and Slavia.
The match against Botev (Vratsa)
Case study 1: Is there a first penalty for Botev and does he handball Lassana?
In the 50th minute of the meeting, Botev (Vratsa) – Heber, the home side's Lassana after a ball kicked into the box, falls between Stefan Tsonkov and Heber's Joao Cesco and tumbles to the ground without any visible contact. The duel in the air was apparently taken as a foul by the referee, who was quick to point out the white spot. His decision is “reviewed” express by VAR and seconds later, to put it mildly, the discussion penalty was converted into a goal. It's a wonder why the men in black from VAR miss the fact that Lassana helps himself to the ball with his left hand, thus taking an advantage over his opponent.
Case 2: We claim that there is no second penalty in favor of Botev.
She was awarded in the first minute of overtime. In this situation, Botev's competitor is again between Heber's defenders in the penalty area – in this case, Martin Mihailov and Viktor Sesko. There is no obvious contact between Mihailov and the attacker Genov, but the latter falls to the grass without contact, which is enough reason for Vasimir El Khatib to show the white point. And here, as with the first penalty, the situation is “considered” short-handed by VAR, and the penalty was converted into a goal. And attention: Is there a double cubit? If in the match with Slavia when Stefan Tsonkov's goal was disallowed, there was talk of an uncontrollable play by the home player, because he was in the air, it should be the same here with Ioan Nzi!
Case 3: Is there a penalty for Heber?
Another key moment of the match is the 71st minute, when with the score 2:1, after a long pass, Oleksiy Zbun controls the ball, ahead of Spas Georgiev from the home team, enters the penalty area and falls. Before that, the video shows Georgiev pushing Oleksiy Zbun with his left hand and eventually knocking him to the ground. Wasimir El Khatib does not see a violation in this, but what is even worse is that his colleagues from the VAR do not report it either.
Heber's last serious claim from this match is related to the continuation of the match. Wasimir El Khatib estimates that it should be at least five minutes. Within it, he awarded the second penalty, it was supposedly “considered” by VAR, and after its realization, additional time was lost in celebration of the goal before the game resumed. We note the fact that VAR was watched twice during the penalties for nearly two minutes, and there were also 6 stoppages for substitutions. The 5-minute overtime itself was extended by only 47 seconds!
The match against Krumovgrad
Against the background of five stoppages for substitutions and one prolonged rendering of medical assistance to Georgi Karakashev, only three minutes of extra time are given?!
The match against Slavia
Stefan Tsonkov's equalizing goal at the end of the first half was disallowed. On the replays, it is clear that there was no ambush when Nicolas Penev crossed. It can also be seen that the ball to Tsonkov is continued by a Slavia player.
Separately, during Slavia's second goal, Erol Dost was on the back of Nicolas Penev, who had no way to bounce back and countered the opponent. The follow-up to this is a goal in Heber's goal," said Heber's position published on the club's official website.