Referee failure in the EM final: Why did nobody notice the handball?

The more you see this scene, the clearer it becomes. Maybe referee Kateryna Monzul should have looked at the action again in the review area, maybe the video referees Paolo Valeri and Pol van Boekel should have looked at it from a different perspective, maybe the German players should have complained more vehemently.

Everything stays in the subjunctive, because the scene is initially lost in the live events. It’s the 25th minute of the game in the final of the European Championship between England and Germany. At a corner, things get confusing in front of the Lionesses’ box. In the fray, the ball slammed into the arm of England captain Leah Williamson just in front of the goal line.

The Ukrainian referee lets the game continue, but the next time the game is stopped, he is informed that the scene is being reviewed. Short break, then the note: No penalty!

Referee team is question out of the way

Apparently, the video assistants were not able to identify any punishable handball. Incomprehensible, because the arm is far from the body and stretched high in the air. Because it happens just centimeters from the goal line, the argument of the short distance should actually not hold up.

When “Bild” Monzul responded to the scene after the game, she is said to have just shrugged her shoulders. Video colleague Valeri explained to the newspaper in the mixed zone that he was not allowed to comment on it. There is no explanation from Uefa.

The excitement in the German team is understandably great – but why is the outcry so late in the context of live events?

EM final: Why is handball initially lost?

National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, for example, only sees the scene after the final whistle with her colleagues from ARD, and then she no longer knows that the handball was even checked. “You have to see that. Yes, I don’t know if that was checked. But there’s no use complaining now. Of course that’s stupid. The people who are responsible have to think about that.”

Handball went down both on and off the field. No wonder something like this happens in a fraction of a second. But even the TV viewer only becomes aware of the scope of the scene much later.

Commentator Bernd Schmelzer evaluates the action in live action as follows when watching the first repetition: “And here comes the ball, no no, that’s not an intentional handball. Will now be checked by the video assistant.” Although he also agrees that the arm is “relatively far up”, he thinks the final decision is “expectable”.

A mistake by the ARD man, because intention or not is not decisive for the assessment of this situation. The unnatural enlargement of Williamson’s body is crucial.

Voss-Tecklenburg finds clear words about the wrong decision

The international direction leaves it at these direct repetitions, which is why Schmelzer does not get a better basis for his evaluation during the half-time. The commentator apparently does not get any information from his crew either.

Only during the break does ARD go into more detail on the scene with moderator Claus Lufen and expert Nia Künzer. Here the TV viewer also knows: Germany was cheated of a penalty!

The national coach becomes even clearer with a greater distance to the game than in the field interview with Lufen and Künzer. “At this level in a final of the European Championship, something like that shouldn’t happen. I want you to deal with it. I don’t want people to just brush over it,” she urged.

And further: “The question I have is: Why does something like this happen, why isn’t it looked at? Why is there no clear communication? That’s what drives me and keeps me busy.”

Legitimate questions to which Uefa still owes the answers.