Union Saint-Gilloise defender Christian Burgess was sent off with a red card during Friday evening’s Belgian football championship match against Cercle Bruges, a decision the club is now publicly disputing.
Burgess took to Instagram to voice his frustration with referee Lothar D’Hondt, questioning the consistency of his calls and even sarcastically applauding after receiving the red card.
The incident occurred during the 20th matchday of the Belgian football championship, as Union Saint-Gilloise faced off against Cercle Bruges. Burgess alleges that the first yellow card he received was unwarranted, pointing out that a previous tackle by Pieter Gerkens went unpunished. “I see that DAZN has not published my first yellow card. I will post with an “educational” objective. But first, no yellow card (Editor’s note: for this tackle by Pieter Gerkens),” Burgess wrote on Instagram.
He further questioned the decision, stating, “No contact, yellow card. Coherence?” and shared video footage appearing to show Ibrahima Diaby fouling him. Diaby did receive a yellow card for that foul and was later sent off in the 75th minute after receiving a second yellow. Burgess concluded his social media critique with, “And a tackle worthy of a straight red card for good measure. And the propagandists will say that the Union benefits from arbitration decisions.”
