Ever since the VAR video refereeing system was introduced last season, it has been frowned upon by many supporters, and protests have been common in the stadiums.
But the scenes that played out yesterday at Lekrendal, when Rosenborg took on Lilleström, were something different from the usual.
WHERE
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Pyrotechnics were thrown in
After just over a minute of play, the referee interrupted the match for the first time and sent the players off the court, when fish cakes and tennis balls were thrown from the stands.
Seven minutes later the referee resumed play but just three minutes later play was stopped again after pyrotechnics were thrown.
“Player Safety”
After another break, the game was resumed, but then it only lasted a few minutes before it had to be paused again to remove newly inserted tennis balls.
Then the announcer called out that the match would be stopped completely if the protests continued. And so it became. After another five minutes of play, loads of tennis balls were thrown in and then the match was stopped altogether.
– I tell the players that I am determined that we will “try, try, try” to complete the match, but when the tennis balls come from the Rosenborg fans, it is about the players’ safety and how many chances we should give them, says referee Rohit Saggi to TV2and continues:
– I think it’s super sad (to cancel the match), but at the same time we have a job to do, and that is to protect the game and the reputation of the game.
– Several possible options have been evaluated, but they all ended up in us having to cancel the match.