July 19 – Following the new refereeing protocol introduced for the first time by UEFA at Euro 2024, club captains in the Belgian league will be the only players allowed to communicate with the referee on key decisions in domestic league matches.
UEFA brought in the new approach whereby referees explained key decisions to the team captain who was then the sole player entitled to demand clarification.
During the competition, the European governing body said that the protocol would be extended to all UEFA’s club competitions. Belgium’s professional refereeing department will apply the same rule in the 2024/25 season.
“The intention is to strive for uniformity with competitions abroad,” said technical director of referees Jonathan Lardot.
Last season, Belgian referees were often caught in the eye of the storm and the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport (BAS) overruled a decision that Genk-Anderlecht had to be replayed.
The professional refereeing department expressed their desire to bring Belgian referees back to the highest level at UEFA, build a broad base of referees at the play-off 1 level, increase the quality of refereeing in the second division and further raise the level of female referees.
On July 20, Bram Van Driessche will referee the Belgian Super Cup, the traditional curtain raiser of the new season, between defending champions Club Brugge and cup holders Union St Gilloise. In a pilot, VAR images shown to the referee will be broadcast.
Six days later, Brugge kick off the new league season against KV Mechelen.
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