DThe Frankfurt Regional Court has struck a decisive blow in the fight against organized age discrimination: the German Football Association has to pay 48,500 euros to the former Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe for treating him like an old horse under the questionable motto “Don’t trust anyone over 47”. banished to the stable to eat the bread of mercy.
Are you already on the last hole at 47? That’s arbitrary, the judge decided. In any case, it’s humbug. That’s exactly what we’ve known since the weekend at the latest, because Claudia Pechstein won her forty-second title over the 5000 meters at the German speed skating championships in Erfurt – and that shortly before her 51st birthday.
Gräfe was still full of juice when the DFB pulled him out of circulation on suspicion of the onset of gout and frailty. 47 is too old, they said. Simply that way. But it’s not that easy, says the judge, and Gräfe takes the compensation as compensation for pain and suffering, because the abrupt ban on whistling still hurts him today. “The joy on the pitch was taken from me,” he tweeted inconsolably these days, “and the evenings with colleagues and friends.”
Anyone who still feels in good shape is reluctant to stop. And didn’t Gräfe have the keenest eyes and an eagle’s eye that the young envy of him? Felix Zwayer, just 41, whistled for a free-kick in Leipzig’s game against Stuttgart last Friday, which was not a free-kick and the score was 1-0. “I can’t think of much about that,” fumed VfB trainer Bruno Labbadia, “that’s shit.” Gräfe will soon be 50, but what isn’t a foul he would still recognize with a blindfold if necessary.
Gräfe didn’t grow moldy, but was chased from the farm
In the prime of his wits he was an elite referee. As soon as he fully developed his two meters, he nipped any pack formation in the bud. He was a person of respect, popular with the players, recognized by everyone. And he was fit. He reportedly got up at cockcrow and started the day with about twenty squats and thirty one-arm push-ups, followed by a farmhouse breakfast of peanut butter, honey, and three hard-boiled eggs in tomato juice.
Gräfe didn’t grow moldy, he didn’t smell rancid yet and was still chased from the farm. In their own way, referees can also end up as victims of the zeitgeist: an old, white man.
Manuel Gräfe in the courtroom of the regional court in Frankfurt. The judges ruled in favor of the referee
Source: dpa/Boris Roessler
The DFB simply spoke its word of power: From the age of 47, referees are no longer good enough, the association decided at some point without substantiating the terrible suspicion. This drop in performance starts at exactly 47, suddenly the referees can no longer follow the pace of the game, are no longer at ball height and are threatened by progressive visual impairment and pupillary clouding, or even glaucoma.
If Tom Brady hears that, he’ll laugh himself to death. The quarterback legend of US football is currently considering whether to hang on for another year. He will soon be 46, but no person in good blood would stop him from continuing because his ball throws and strides are not noticeably shorter and his reflexes are only slightly slower. Brady has won two more Superbowls past 40, and when the interviewer on the podium asked him why he didn’t want to quit, the old gun pointed at the ecstatically celebrating crowd and yelled, “Why? Yes, look at that!” Adrenaline rush, pure. Where else in life does he get that? He then won another superbowl ring, possibly even the next one. And referees get their whistle ripped out of their mouths by the DFB at the age of 47?
Specialists do not belong in early retirement
Nobody understands that, probably not even the chancellor. In an interview, Olaf Scholz said: “It is important to increase the proportion of those who can really work until retirement age.” In any case, skilled workers do not belong in early retirement. The pope is pope until he falls over, Johannes Heesters was still an actor at a hundred, Adenauer was still being taken to the Chancellery every morning at 87, and Frank Sinatra at 80 was still getting standing ovations for just lighting his cigarette on stage. Admittedly, these are professions that can be practiced with two butt cheeks and comparisons lag – but why not give a referee a chance as long as he doesn’t lag.
People retire early more often – Scholz wants to take countermeasures
More and more people in Germany are retiring early. This poses additional problems for the economy, which is already suffering from a labor shortage. Chancellor Scholz wants to counteract this.
The DFB refereeing department has long relied on studies that tell of the gradual decline in bodily functions, muscle atrophy from the age of 30, the increase in blood pressure from the age of 30, the reduction in lung volume at 35 or reading glasses at 40, but cannot be found in any standard physiology textbook well-established knowledge of a referee’s biological endpoint. Why isn’t there a precautionary check before each season? Can he still read the headlines in the “Bild” without glasses? How about blood pressure and prostate, can he last 90 minutes without a bowel movement and without support stockings? And does the routine and wisdom of his age replace the lost washboard abs?
Does the DFB soften the age limit?
In any case, the DFB wants to rethink now and move away from the rigid age limit, thanks to Claudia Pechstein, Tom Brady and the Frankfurt judge at the latest, he has been running out of arguments since the weekend. “Others will be helped by the verdict,” suspects Manuel Gräfe, and his ex-colleague Felix Brych has already announced that he will continue to whistle at 48.
Basically, he only has to complete the Götz-George fitness check before each season. As Schimanski in “Tatort”, the actor dived smoothly into old age at every crook over the counter, and when a journalist once asked him when it was over, George said: “If I don’t jump over the chair get more done.”
