The Lions’ World Championship final turned into a referee show – Ville Nieminen didn’t hold back his words!
The opening period of the World Championship final between Finland and Switzerland started in a heated atmosphere, as two consecutive penalties for Finland in the closing moments sparked a lot of discussion.
The first penalty was given to Urho Vaakanaiselle for tripping. At the end of the same situation, Anton Lundell received a two-minute penalty for violence after Timo Meier from Switzerland had directed a knee check towards a Finnish player after the whistle. However, Meier did not receive a penalty for the incident.
As a result, Switzerland was able to play a full two minutes with a two-man advantage, which caused confusion both in the stands and in the studio. The Finnish coaching staff reacted strongly to the decisions.
In Viaplay’s studio, Ville Nieminen critically assessed the refereeing.
– This is a mess. I already wrote after Dean Kukan’s penalty that this penalty could change the game. And it did change, as the referees are so sensitive. You could almost give penalties to everyone, but you can’t give two penalties to Finland; one is enough.
Additionally, Nieminen wondered about the referees’ next move after the penalties.
– And then there was a strange thing: Finland gets two penalties and the face-off is moved to the neutral zone.
Jussi Jokinen also joined the criticism and found the refereeing line to be unusual.
– Yeah, really unusual. I agree that when those penalties start coming, the referees get into a really bad spot. Rädyn’s penalty was already a bit easy, and the following penalties were really easy. Now it feels like everyone is trying to fish for penalties.
After the opening period, the score was 0–0.
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