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,” explained Stieler after the cup round of 16 on ARD and Sport1. “It was enough for me to decide on a 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.
However, Stieler also admitted that video assistant 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.”
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.”
