The astonishing defense of Vanaken’s lawyer for his insults towards the referees: “The fault of the Dutch in Bruges”

Threatened with four games of suspension (two for brutal misconduct and two for insults), Hans Vanaken presented his defense before the disciplinary committee of the Pro League by video conference.

The referee of the meeting, Nathan Verboomen first confirmed the words used by the Bruges player after being shown a red card: “Shit referees. You are all shitty referees “, while his assistant also heard him say: “Morons”, “Fucking Hell”, upon entering the locker room.

In the process, Vanaken apologized to the refereeing body for his inappropriate comments: “It was the feeling of disbelief seeing the red card that made me react this way.” This did not prevent him from challenging the sanction proposed by the prosecution via his lawyers after prosecutor Ebe Verhaegen specified that “in 15 comparable cases, the request for sanction was even more severe.”

“I wanted to take my foot off a fraction of a second too late. I had no intention of hurting Beck. I’m not a brutal player. I haven’t been given a red card in 132 games. I know. that I have an example value. This little delay cannot tarnish my image, nor erase my 132 matches. ” His lawyers pleaded for two games suspended. “In the pictures you can see that Hans is surprised at his fault. In those moments, we sometimes say words that we don’t mean. I have known Hans for years. The word ‘shit’ is not part of his vocabulary. But this may be the consequence of the presence of a large number of Dutch in the Bruges locker room “, declared Johnny Maeschalck, lawyer of Vanaken to explain the insults uttered against the referees of the meeting.

The prosecutor explained that the sanction should be more severe against him: “Hans Vanaken serves as an example. Not because it is about Hans Vanaken, but because he is a professional player. Words like ‘shit referees’ or ‘morons’ have nothing to to do on a football field “, he explained, advocating zero tolerance for this type of behavior towards the referee.

The decision should fall on Wednesday.