Stand: 2:08 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Referee Felix Brych gets caught in the crossfire of colleagues
Source: dpa / Marijan Murat
Borussia Mönchengladbach was beside themselves about the video evidence after the last minute equalization of VfB Stuttgart. The disputed penalty now has a sequel. There is rumbling within the referees’ guild.
PProject manager Jochen Drees defended the controversial penalty decision in the Bundesliga match between VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach, but admitted communication deficits within the referee team. “It’s a penalty you can give. The decision is possible when I see the brackets, “said the person responsible for the video evidence at the German Football Association (DFB) on Sunday at Sky and spoke of a” criminal process “and the brackets as a” priority aspect “.
In stoppage time of the game on Saturday evening, VfB striker Sasa Kalajdzic was clasped on the goal line in a scramble for the ball by Gladbach’s left-back Rami Bensebaini, but was also hit at the foot by his own teammate Waldemar Anton. He did not see this contact, he was “probably part of the decision,” said referee Felix Brych. The video assistant Bibiana Steinhaus had not pointed this out to him from Cologne. The Gladbachers had strongly criticized the decision after the 2: 2.
Brych spontaneously let the game continue, but then received a tip from Steinhaus in Cologne. Brych looked at the images on the monitor again for a relatively short time, whistled a penalty, Silas Wamangituka converted to 2: 2 (90 + 6).
Drees emphasized that even the video evidence could not depict every decision “black or white”. The ex-referee Steinhaus had “assessed the aspect of the foot offense for herself and viewed it as not relevant,” explained Drees.
Brych becomes a bogeyman
But behind the scenes of the referees guild there is a rumble. Brych’s colleague scolding is bitter, on Saturday and also on this Sunday there was a lively telephone exchange in this regard. Bitter reveals that Brych more or less hid behind Steinhaus after his controversial decision – and put the blame on her.
Regardless of this, the former Fifa referee Drees admitted that it would have been better to look at the entire scene again, including touching the foot, and spoke of a possible “communication and presentation misunderstanding” between those involved. “The scene as a whole should have been presented more clearly,” said Drees and announced that the contentious situation would be analyzed and evaluated and the “review process improved”.
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