BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Belgium's title-chasing Union Saint Gilloise revealed on Tuesday the real identity of the culprit who threw a ball onto the field from their bench at a crucial juncture of their win over Racing Genk in the Belgian Pro League playoffs at the weekend.
The time-wasting tactic drew howls of disapproval, prompted an intense television debate and overshadowed Union's 2-1 away win, which moved them level with Genk on 40 points in the standings.
The ball was thrown onto the field from the Union bench as Genk, who had just pulled one goal back, were launching their last attack in a bid at a late comeback, forcing a halt to play with a second ball on the pitch.
Union's kitman Ibrahim Fadili was identified as the transgressor and sent off but it has since transpired that reserve goalkeeper and former Genk player Vic Chambaere was the guilty party.
"Our equipment manager was wrongfully sent off for this incident. After internal discussions this morning, it turns out that it was our goalkeeper Vic Chambaere who kicked the ball onto the pitch," said a statement on Tuesday.
"This is an action that Union strongly disapproves of and which does not reflect our values or those of our supporters. Union will always fight to the bitter end on the pitch, but above all, we advocate respect and fair play, both on and off the pitch.
"This morning, our management spoke with our technical staff and player Vic Chambaere. We also wish to apologise to the match referee and our opponent on Sunday afternoon for throwing the ball onto the pitch in the final minutes of the match."
The result allowed Club Brugge to move top of the standings with a two-point advantage to set up a close three-way contest for the title with four rounds of matches left.
The 22-year-old Chambaere, who joined from Genk at the start of the season, was handed a four-match ban and fined 5,000 euros ($5,721) at a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday while Fadili was given a two-match ban for "misleading the referee" and fined 2,500 euros.
"I want to apologise for what I did,” said Chambaere. "It was a stupid mistake on my part that was impulsive and which I immediately regretted. I want to apologise to the referees because I did not immediately say that it was me. I also want to apologise to our equipment manager who wrongly took the blame.”
($1 = 0.8740 euros)
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Toby Davis)
