Upamecano “looked at me in dismay” |
Referee Aytekin reveals crazy time waster trick!
Time game with a difference…
If a player buys time on the football field, he should be punished for it. But a referee can also use this method. Referee Deniz Aytekin (44) explained this in the podcast “Kicker meets DAZN”.
What happened?
In the Bayern game against Frankfurt (6-1) at the start of the new Bundesliga season, Aytekin warned the professionals because he wanted to gain time for an ongoing video evidence decision.
The referee explains: “There was a situation shortly after half-time when it was checked whether there were penalties. I give a corner kick and the video assistant says, ‘Wait a minute, we’re checking to see if it was a potential foul.’ But I didn’t want it to stand out because I didn’t want to jeopardize the flow of the game and the atmosphere.”
So Aytekin resorted to the crazy time wasting trick: “I went to the players and told Upamecano to stop. He looked at me dumbfounded and said: ‘I haven’t done anything.’ Then I said: ‘Yes, I know. But I need time.’ Then I took a few steps back. This period of time has helped me that – in plain English – no old sow has checked, that we are checking something.”
According to Aytekin, he didn’t want the review to attract attention “because I didn’t want to jeopardize the flow of the game and the atmosphere”. However, the referee admits: “Of course, this trick is not always the solution and it doesn’t always work either.”
The time factor is one of the major criticisms of video evidence. On Sunday, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann (35) said after the 2-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg about a check: “It took five hours and 34 minutes until you knew that it was a millimeter offside. I would be interested to know how thick the line they drew was.”
