Ibrahim Buhari got into the situation late and tagged Kolbeinn Thordarson.
Then the referee Fredrik Klitte warned Thordarson (!) and awarded a free kick to Elfsborg.
– For me it is a clear red card. I don’t understand anything, says Blåvitt’s coach Jens Askou.
Afterwards, Klitte admitted that he was wrong.
Jens Askou rages after the missing expulsion: “I don’t understand anything”
IF ELFSBORG
Published 30 Oct 2023 at 19.33,updated 31 Oct at 08.11
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11:10
The situation.
Ibrahim Buhari got into the situation late and tagged Kolbeinn Thordarson.
Then the referee Fredrik Klitte warned Thordarson (!) and awarded a free kick to Elfsborg.
– For me it is a clear red card. I don’t understand anything, says Blåvitt’s coach Jens Askou.
Afterwards, Klitte admitted that he was wrong.
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Petter Östman
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Hector Junelind
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Markus Wulcan
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It was emotional from the first minute in the rival meeting between IFK Gothenburg and Elfsborg at Gamla Ullevi. After a quarter of a game it was really narrow on Blåvitt’s right wing. The Icelander Kolbeinn Thordarson threw himself after a ball, whereupon Elfsborg’s centre-back Ibrahim Buhari entered the situation late and stamped the Blåvitt player over the leg.
Both players were lying on the grass.
When the players got back on their feet, referee Fredrik Klitte chose to show Thordarson a yellow card and award a free kick for Elfsborg. Ibrahim Buhari got away completely.
It led to wild protests from the Blåvittläger and the home crowd.
– I don’t know where to start or stop. Those who have to control the match lost it completely after only ten minutes. Then there are some situations for which you don’t get warnings or free kicks. Then it escalates. Right now I’m just glad that Kolbeinn isn’t in the hospital waiting for surgery. For me it’s a clear red card. I don’t understand anything, says IFK coach Jens Askou afterwards.
The criticism: “It’s so ugly and late”
Askou was really annoyed after the tackle on Thordarson.
– There were many things that I did not understand at all today. That’s also one of the reasons why it didn’t go our way. Normally I don’t say that, but when I see the clip with Kolbeinn, I’m just glad he’s here and not in the hospital, he repeats.
Fredrik Klitte admitted after the match that he had made the wrong judgment on the pitch.
– I don’t have that angle in the situation, the player is hiding with his back, so I don’t see and the assistant referee has an eye on the offside. Therefore we miss it. The correct decision would have been a red card for the Elfsborg player.
Kolbeinn Thordarson says that he was able to continue playing thanks to painkillers.
– My knee looks terrible. I have marks all over my knee. It’s obvious that I’m on the ball and he’s trying to hurt me. But the referee says he didn’t see it, and that’s a shame, because it’s really, really ugly, says the Icelander, who nevertheless took Fredrik Klitte in defense to some extent.
– If he sees it, it’s a clear red card, but it’s hard to blame him if he doesn’t see it. He’s only human, but that’s a clear red card.
“Absolutely the strangest”
Is it one of the strangest yellow cards you’ve received?
– Yes, without a doubt. Absolutely the weirdest thing, everyone can see that.
Can you play against AIK in the next match?
– I don’t know, but I think so. We’ll see how bad it is first. I have a lot of pain meds in me now, but we’ll see how I feel when I wake up tomorrow.
After the match, Jens Askou urged his players not to comment on the referee’s decision, but Thordarson obviously missed it.
– He was receiving treatment in another room when I spoke, so that was probably why, explains the Blåvitt coach.
Does it matter that players speak out about refereeing efforts in general?
– No, but it also applies… now we have two games left and you never know what will happen. In Denmark you are not allowed to comment on court decisions, you can be banned and I don’t want to risk that. I don’t know one hundred percent what the rules look like here, but that’s why.
Askou didn’t talk to Klitte
Have you spoken to Fredrik Klitte now afterwards?
– Frederick?
The judge.
– No no. They have to evaluate the situations themselves and I think they do. Then we evaluate our performance. That is probably the most important thing. Then the media gets to discuss what they think about everything as usual.
Do you want to see WHERE in the Allsvenskan?
– I don’t want to comment on that. I stand behind the association’s decision regarding that, Askou answers.
Blåvitt striker Astrit Selmani:
– For me it is strange that our player gets a yellow card, but the referee is only human. We have chosen in Sweden not to have VAR and then we have to be prepared that there will be human errors sometimes. He is a human being like everyone else. If he doesn’t get the help he thinks he deserves, things like this will affect the matches. It is not something we can influence.
Selmani: “Is a difficult question”
Do you want to see WHERE in Allsvenskan?
– It’s a hard question. I have had VAR in both Denmark and Israel and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. There is nothing that is one hundred percent, but if you don’t have a WHERE, you have to be prepared for human error. If you have VAR, you can blame the computer, it’s a little easier anyway. But in that case you have to install cameras from all angles and we didn’t have that in Israel, so then it will also be wrong. And it is a financial issue – who will be responsible for it? It is difficult.
Selmani then admitted without further ado that he got the ball in his hand before Blåvitt’s 1-1 goal.
– A clear hand. But I can’t remove the hand, it’s next to the body, but the ball hits the hand, he says.
How he thinks VAR would have ruled in that situation?
– Probably wrong (laughs). It won’t be right anyway. There’s always someone who gets mad anyway, so it doesn’t solve anything.
Elfsborg won the match 2–1 and is now storming towards the SM gold. IFK Gothenburg is still fighting for Allsvenskan play in 2024.
– I think we deserved more today, the supporters were incredible and the atmosphere gave us everything we needed for three points and I think we did well, but it wasn’t good enough in the penalty area when we had the chance, says Kolbeinn Thordarson.