Anger after Wembley scandal |
Muzzle for the video referee
First she doesn’t whistle, then she doesn’t speak…
The German soccer players lost a clear penalty against England in the final of the European Championship and lost dramatically in extra time with 1:2. In Wembley of all places!
Referee Kateryna Monzul (42/Ukraine) does not see a clear handball from England captain Leah Williamson (25) on the line. The video referees Paolo Valeri (44/Italy) and Pol van Boekel (46/Netherlands) also agree: no punishable handball. The scene is therefore not even checked!
BILD confronts Monzul with the scene after the game: “What happened to England’s handball in the 25th minute?” Monzul shrugs, spreads his arms apologetically – and leaves. Explanation nil.
That’s not all: video referee Valeri passes by in the mixed zone after the final whistle. When asked by BILD in Italian, he greets him with a smile and says: “Non posso dire niente, mi dispiace.”
Which in German means something like: got muzzle missed.
The referees are silent, the Germans are angry! National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (54): “Something like this shouldn’t happen at this level in a European Championship final. I want you to deal with it. I don’t want people to just brush over it.”
“When a title is taken away from you like that, it hurts,” says sporting director Joti Chatzialexiou (46). “We always talk about fair play. It is incomprehensible to me that there was no trader in this situation. It doesn’t get any clearer. That makes it even more bitter. So I ask myself why there are video assistants.”
Defender Sara Doorsoun (30) also asks herself: “Now we have the discussion again about what the VAR is for. Maybe the game would have been different. Of course it can completely change a game when we take a 1-0 lead.”
The national coach again: “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.”
The clear communication, it didn’t work with the referees even after the game…
