Sharktopus FC’s protest of their loss to Bellevue Athletic in a U.S. Open Cup qualifier has been upheld, meaning the match will need to be replayed. After Bellevue Athletic won the match 4-3 in overtime, Sharktopus apparently discovered that the referee in the match, Alex Wolbert, had played for Bellevue Athletic at least 20 times since 2022 and for their reserve team as recently as this year.
Michael Battista
Although the U.S. Open Cup Adjudication and Disciplinary Panel didn’t find “any evidence or believe that any party attempted to influence the competition” the replay was ordered to “protect the integrity of the competition based on the presence of a conflict of interest.”
The winner of the match had been slated to play Ballard FC in the third round of qualifying on Nov. 1 and the winner of that would claim a spot in the first round of the 2026 U.S. Open Cup.
