Sebastien Delferière in litigation against the Belgian Union, the explanations of his lawyer

It's been over a month now that the "Football Gate" has shaken Belgian football. And especially the one who was considered the number one referee of Belgian football, Sébastien Delferière.

The man in black, who in addition to his function of arbitrator, occupies a position of administrative employee is currently the subject of a procedure of dismissal for serious reasons on the part of the Belgian Union in the labor court. Louis Derwa, lawyer specializing in sports law and also lawyer Sébastien Delferière explains: "The Belgian Union has brought proceedings before the Labor Court because Sébastien Delferière is in fact a staff delegate to the Works Council of the Belgian Union and therefore, as such, is subject to special protection in case of dismissal. The Belgian Union has introduced a dismissal procedure for serious reasons in the Labor Court."

There are two serious reasons for Sébastien Delferière. First, its proximity to the agent Dejan Veljkovic. A relationship that the referee does not deny but has never influenced his refereeing. "He does not hide that he had a relationship with Mr Veljkovic, but since he had relations with all the players in football, whether they were club managers, co-workers, etc. When you are in a workplace, with the time you develop friendly relationships with some", explains Louis Derwa."After there is a limit not to be exceeded and it is obviously there that there can be influences following more developed relations. I was surprised to see that there is very little written contractually. Mr. Delferière is very serene about the fact that he knew how to fix these barriers, on the fact that he always knew how to make the difference and that he did not undergo any harmful influence on his arbitration."

Another serious reason for the referee: not a match-fixing but a red card not given to Sofiane Hanni for a nudge during the Standard-Anderlecht of January 28th. No cardboard and therefore no suspension. Which would have facilitated the departure a few days later of Anderlecht at Spartak Moscow, a transfer that would have been finally settled by … Mogi Bayat and not Dejan Veljkovic. "During this match, Mr Delferière did not sanction of phase and it is only 9 months later it is reproached"explains Louis Derwa."At the same time, the phase was not debated, moreover during the "Tribune" of the weekend after this match, Mr Javaux said that according to him there was no red card. It was not until February 6th that this began to be a problem because the case was turned over to litigation. And that's when he was asked to explain but it was no longer of interest because the transfer had taken place."

In the meantime, Sebastien Delferière hopes that confidence can return depending on the outcome of the case and that he can still referee in Belgian football.