“Clearly: This is not the mother of all hand penalties”
Dortmund trembles in Bochum in the quarterfinals
After a thrilling match, Borussia Dortmund made it into the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. “Not many teams will score points here,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic in praise of Bochum after the game.
The hand penalty imposed against Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Cup caused a stir. Referee Tobias Stieler took an extremely long time to make his decision and has to explain himself. After the game, he admits that he disagreed with the video referee.
SReferee Tobias Stieler defended his controversial hand penalty decision in the DFB Cup round of 16 between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund (1:2). The arm of Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who was shot at the edge of the penalty area from a few meters, was not “very tight” on the body, “but slightly angled,” said Stieler after the round of 16 of the cup: “It was then for me just enough to decide the penalty.” Bochum’s Kevin Stöger then scored to make it 1-1.
“On the pitch it was never an issue whether it was a handball,” said Stieler, the question was whether the handball was inside or outside the Dortmund penalty area. Since this could not be clarified beyond doubt from his point of view, the first field decision remained: hand penalty. The referee took his time assessing the scene during the game and watched the TV images from the sidelines himself. There were three minutes and 50 seconds between the action and the final decision.
However, Stieler also admitted that video referee Tobias Welz had “stomach ache with the decision”. “Of course it’s very clear: That’s not the mother of all hand penalties.” He can well understand “if someone has a different view of this scene.” Like Dortmund’s sports director Sebastian Kehl, who spoke on ZDF about the controversial scene with Bynoe- Gittens said: “The way he turns away and holds his arm, it’s not a penalty for me.”
Criticism from BVB coach Terzic
BVB trainer Edin Terzic criticized in particular that Bochum’s Saidy Janko’s push against Bynoe-Gittens was not punished immediately before the hand situation arose. “What bothers me the most is that there is a clear foul on Bynoe-Gittens before this scene even happens,” Terzic complained. “The referee is a meter away and has a clear view.”
Bochum’s coach Thomas Letsch was surprised at the length of the decision-making process: “I have to be honest: I don’t quite understand why it takes so long.” Because “the hand isn’t that complicated after all.” He too would have decided on a hand penalty, “but I have no referee training.”
The Dortmund frustration was also quickly gone. Just six minutes after the disputed penalty, Marco Reus scored the lead again, which propelled BVB into the quarter-finals. There is also 1. FC Nürnberg as the only second division club, as well as defending champions RB Leipzig, record winners Bayern Munich (20 wins in 24 finals), 1. FC Union Berlin, VfB Stuttgart, SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt. The quarter-finals will be drawn on February 19.
