Neil Bausor and the other Championship club members on the EFL board did not vote until a decision was made about what to do with the game between Blackburn Rovers and Ipswich Town that had to be called off.
The league game between the two teams at Ewood Park last weekend had to be called off after 80 minutes because it was so wet on the field. Referee Stephen Martin took the players off the pitch and later looked at it and decided it couldn’t be used for play.
Rovers were ahead 1-0 with 80 minutes played when the game was called off. Ipswich was also down to ten men after Yuki Ohashi was fouled by Jacob Greaves and got a straight red card.
The EFL board heard from both teams about what should happen with the game. According to league rules, the board could order that the result from when the game was stopped should stand, that the game should start over from where it was stopped, or that the whole thing should be replayed.
Thursday, the EFL announced that they had voted for the second option, which made Blackburn very sad. A date for the rescheduled game has not yet been set. “It was ultimately decided by a majority that the fixture should be replayed in full,” the EFL said in a statement.
“The decision is based on recent examples of abandoned games and is meant to protect the integrity of the League competition, which should, whenever possible, be based on a full set of games played all the way through on the day in question.” The board also said they were going to make new rules that would be used if a match had to be abandoned.
Teesside Live wrote earlier this week that Neil Bausor, the CEO of Boro, is one of three chosen Championship club representatives on the EFL board. The other two are Peter Ridsdale of Preston North End and Zoe Webber of Norwich City. That meant that the three could vote on how the case turned out, which could have affected how well their own club did this season.
That being said, the EFL stated in their statement that all three Championship officials did not vote in order to protect the integrity of the vote. Not only did two Independent Non-Executive Directors make the choice, but so did an Independent Chair (Rick Parry), the Chief Executive Officer of the EFL (Trevor Birth), and three divisional representatives (two from League One and one from League Two).
After the decision, Blackburn said in a statement, “Whilst Blackburn Rovers embraces the processes undertaken by the EFL and acknowledges the complexities involved, the club was deeply displeased by the outcome, which fails to take into account the significant advantages Rovers held at the time of abandonment.”
“Blackburn Rovers is dedicated to upholding the competition’s integrity, but we strongly believe that the decision to replay the whole game does not accurately reflect what happened on the day of the game.”
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