DFB Cup: Missing VAR causes a lot of trouble

DFB Cup: Missing VAR causes a lot of trouble

“I always miss the VAR, I’m a big fan of it,” said HSV coach Steffen Baumgart after his club’s elimination in Freiburg (1:2) and a controversial penalty decision by the referee, which could no longer be checked on video . “I think we should look at everything a little more positively. I think it’s a good decision. In my opinion, it doesn’t ruin football, it just makes it fairer,” said the coach.

Miroslav Klose also supported the use of referees after Nuremberg’s 1-2 defeat at Hoffenheim. “Everyone complains that video evidence takes so long. But in games like this you see that you need that too. This is detail football, little things make a difference. And if you can use that to help, it’s always an advantage,” said the coach.

Several controversial situations

The video referees could have reversed some wrong decisions in the second round: the unjustified penalty for Kaiserslautern (1:2 in Stuttgart), the alleged red card for Dortmund player Felix Nmecha (0:1 in Wolfsburg) and the offside goal by Bayern young star Jamal Musiala at 4-0 in Mainz.

“You don’t need VAR for that. We have a linesman for that. This is relatively clear, an easy situation to assess. The fact that he doesn’t see that (…) That’s not even close,” complained Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner. His teammate Dominik Kohr even thought the referee was wearing a Bayern jersey and claimed he had committed a foul before the third goal. A VAR might also have rated his Rambo action against Musiala as red-worthy.

A lack of support brings uncertainty

Without the protection on the screen, the affected referees were sometimes insecure. In the game between Hertha BSC and Heidenheim (2:1), the referee only overturned the supposed equalizer in stoppage time after consulting his linesman.

“If there is a foul somewhere on the field in a game, the linesman has to stop the game and not when the ball is in the goal and he suddenly remembers that there was a foul before,” said Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt .

But there are also other opinions. Frankfurt board spokesman Axel Hellmann found the game against Gladbach (2-1) “wonderful” without VAR, although Eintracht received a red card early on. “By the way, I would have said that too if we had lost,” said Hellmann.

Discussions since launch

The video assistant has been around in Germany since the 2017/18 season – and discussions about it have been going on for just as long. Handball, penalty, offside – hardly a game goes by without VAR intervention. The criticism from fans is sometimes severe, with the advocacy group Our Curve criticizing the fact that the VAR takes away the immediate emotion from football.

Recently, a modification of the VAR was discussed. Video support could help and ties in with the idea of ​​a challenge. As is known from other sports, only the coaches are allowed to object to controversial scenes.

“The challenge is not a panacea,” said DFB innovation director Jochen Drees recently. Even then, the decision remains with the referee. “Many people probably think that the discussions would then stop. But I don’t think that’s the case,” he said.

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