Philippe Clement described Jefte’s sending off in Rangers’ 2-0 Champions League qualifier defeat to Dynamo Kyiv as “the worst decision I have seen in over 30 years in football”.
Gers’ new Brazilian signing Jefte, making his first start for the Light Blues and booked in the first half, was sent off by Italian referee Marco Guida in the 51st minute after receiving a second yellow card for an aerial challenge on Oleksandr Karavaiev.
After a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their third qualifier in Poland last week, Rangers rallied and tried to force a win. But late in the game, second-half substitutes Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and Nazar Voloshyn scored twice in two minutes to give the Ukrainians a 3-1 aggregate win, and relegated the Ibrox side to the far less lucrative Europa League phase.
“I have seen pictures and it is clear that there is sometimes a grey area in football. That is why VAR exists to help make football more honest,” said Clement.
“But the decision had nothing to do with the grey area. It was really clear that nothing was going on.
“Jefte jumps higher, he doesn’t move his hand, his arm is next to his body, it’s nothing.
“I try to understand the decision and ask questions, but the referee stuck to his opinion, it was a clear foul and a second yellow and a red card. I’m sure his bosses will have a different idea.
“I can’t say it destroyed the dream at that moment because the players kept playing with ten men to counterattack. Before that we dominated and created chances. They are a good team but you could see how tired they were and we knew we would get better chances.
“The players kept believing, but then they scored the goal at the end and then we tried to force it and they scored the second one.
“This is a crucial moment and in the end it has destroyed the dream of the dressing room and the dream of over 50,000 fans. We now expect better decision-making.
“This is the worst decision I have seen in over 30 years of football.
“I have a lot of things on my mind, but you know if I say too much I can get banned. So let’s keep things in mind.
“I have to be good and smart for the club and the team and we have to move on and learn positive lessons from the two games.”
Clement was not sure about the severity of the injury suffered by left-back Ridvan Yilmaz, who was carried off the field on a stretcher in the second half.
Rangers captain James Tavernier was as stunned by Jefte’s sending off as his boss.
The right-back said: “It is of course disappointing not to get the chance to advance to the next round and compete for a place in the Champions League.
“We are of course still in Europe, in the Europa League, but during the game the decision changes the whole dynamic of the game.
“I spoke to him (the referee) when it happened. He explained that it was an elbow to the face. When I look back at the game, he gets up very early. I thought it wasn’t even a free kick. I thought he got up early. What he did was not malicious.”
“It’s a 50-50 ball that goes in the air. Jefte gets up very early. He hits it in the air. I don’t know how much contact there is.
“It obviously makes a big difference. We will obviously look back on it and have to put it behind us quickly. We have another game at the weekend.
“We will look at what lessons we can learn from this. Then we will pick ourselves up again and have to move on.”
Oleksandr Shovkovskyi’s team will play against RB Salzburg in the next round and the Kyiv head coach said: “Congratulations to all Kyiv fans on this important victory against a very difficult opponent.
“Thank you for the emotions we experienced. They were a great team and applied pressure, but Kyiv had their own tasks and followed the plan. We were prepared for everything that came our way.”
