A football referee has been suspended for life for allegedly celebrating with a club he helped win by eliminating 3 players from the opposing side and granting 15 minutes of extra time, enough for the winners to score a necessary goal.

Earlier this month, Dutch football clubs St. George and SV De Valken met in a final match of the country’s fourth division to decide which of the two teams would be promoted to the third division. It may not seem like very high stakes, but they take football very seriously in the Netherlands and passions ride high, so this particular match was very important to both clubs. It was supposed to be a close game between the two most dominant team in the division, but the match played out very differently than expected because of the one person responsible of fair play, the referee. Jan Smit stands accused of not only rigging the game in one team’s favor, but also celebrating with its members after the win.

After a game in which referee Jan Smit showed three red cards to SV De Valken players and a fourth to the team coach, and let the game go one for an extra 15 minutes after the regular 90 minutes. As soon as the goalkeeper of St. George managed to score the equalizer necessary to guarantee the club’s promotion to the Dutch third division, Smit whistled the end of the game.

SV De Valken officials complained of Jan Smit’s attitude right after the match, but what really sparked their outrage was a clip of St. George players and officials celebrating their prommotion alongside the referee. Smit was seen laughing and singing with the winners and even lifting the trophy. The video spread like wildfire on social media, and the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) had no choice but to take action.

“This morning we informed Mr Smit and that he can no longer referee matches. We expect a neutral attitude from a referee and that both teams are treated with respect. His attitude, of course, was not indicative of that,” a KNVB statement read.

As for Smit, he declared himself outraged by the Dutch Football Association’s decision to suspend him for life, claiming that he had celebrated with other clubs in the past, and that the KNVB had made its decision without carrying out an investigation. He insisted that the decision to suspend him was excessive.

“I wasn’t partying with the players! I only sang one song and lifted the trophy once, that was it. I think it’s too much ,” Jan Smit said about his suspension.