Blackburn Rovers boss Valerian Ismael has broken his silence on Saturday’s abandoned clash with Ipswich Town – and insisted his side should be awarded the victory.
The rain-soaked match at Ewood Park was called off in the 80th minute, with Rovers 1-0 up and Town down to ten men after Jacob Greaves saw red early in the second half.
Both sides have since made their cases to the EFL about what should happen, with the EFL Board due to make a decision.
Blackburn have argued that the result should stand given the game state and amount of time played, while Ipswich believe that a replay is fairest given the action could have been stopped earlier and that there would have been plenty of stoppage-time to come.
Speaking for the first time since the abandonment, Ismael told Rovers TV that the right decision would be to award Blackburn the three points.
“Oh yes,” he insisted. “It’s clear that when you are 1-0 up, down to ten men for the opponent, we’ve got the momentum… yes on one hand they can score a goal, but on the other hand we have the possibility to score as well.
“We faced this situation against Norwich, we were down to ten but we were pushing, the feeling then was we can score, but we conceded a goal and we lost 2-0.
“I think for us we’ve got the right to want the three points in that situation because I think it’s the fair thing to do, especially when the opponent is down to ten.
“11 v 11 is another situation, but this situation was clear, we were in a clear advantage.
“The statistics, the data, everything shows that we were on the front foot since the red card.”
The Rovers boss also stressed that he did not agree to stop the game.
“It was chaotic after the game,” he explained. “We had to accept the decision. The referee abandoned the game. So we go from there.
“We are waiting now for the decision. We made our points on the situation. We prepared our case to say, at that point, we were the pushing team, we were on the front foot.
“So we expected that we get the reward because I think this is the fair thing to do. But apart from that, one thing from my side has to be really clear.
“I saw a report from the EFL at the end of the game and I never agreed to stop the game.
“So I had no choice because the referee made clear that he had to abandon the game. “The pitch was unplayable and he said sorry and the EFL will make the decision. So I never had to agree to anything because the decision was made.
“So I think this is a clear point to make from our position. We never agreed anything.”
And Ismael said there needs to be more clarity surrounding the rules – insisting this case will set a precedent for the future.
“Yes, I think it’s a general problem, there are no rules – it’s a grey area,” he stressed.
“It puts the integrity of football in danger because everyone can speculate on anything and try to stop any game.
“Take the example in France, there’s a clear rule – if the game has to be interrupted or abandoned, you will play on the next game, and you play the remaining minutes, so it’s a clear rule for everyone.
“Now there’s just room for speculation, for influencing, it’s difficult to know what the outcome will be.
“But everyone has to take this case very seriously – it will be a precedent case for sure.”
