Posting this more for the amazing scenes than any critical referee analysis. Also, it's quite the last (truly competitive) match for Stark to have before EURO. Dusseldorf in red. Berlin in blue. Match is in Dusseldorf and it's 4-3 on aggregate with Dusseldorf leading (2-2 in the match) What's at stake is the final spot in the top of the Bundesliga (Germany has a playoff between the 3rd from the bottom in the top division and the third from the top in the second division). This match has been delayed previously due to fan interference (multiple large flares on the pitch) from Berlin supporters. So Stark has 7 minutes of time added on. The video picks up in the 96th minute, when it's the home Dusseldorf supporters who become the problem: Remember that Berlin needs that final minute to be played, in the hopes of tying the aggregate and advancing (away goals). So things got a little feisty among players when Stark and co. first leave the field. Additional information here: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/341645?cc=5901
Watching this live, I was appalled that the referee forced the players back onto the field. What happened to concern over player safety? The ref certainly couldn't control the situation, the police clearly couldn't control the situation, so why not abandon the match? When the Hertha players came back on the pitch, they were clearly prioritizing their own safety rather than winning the match. When a team feels that they have to sacrifice a place in the Bundesliga to preserve their well being, then the environment obviously isn't conducive to a fair and honest football contest.
At this level, the decision to abandon the match would be made in conjunction with the police supervisor (or their representative), probably a League official, and possibly a rep from the teams. If the police say "you'll be safe" then the referee doesn't have much choice but to listen to them. Yes, he could still technically abandon the match, but at this level that wouldn't fly.
Hertha Berlin has appealed the result of the game http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...relegation-following-fortuna-invasion?cc=5901 All you have to do is look at Manchester City as a prime example of why you need all those precious seconds. As a player, I would fear for my safety and not concentrate on the game before getting mobbed by a bunch of fans and crazies. I am not sure how this is going to hold up because the game got played and finished. I have no idea to what precedents are available to cite.
A lot of rumors are swirling that suggest the DFB might actually consider upholding the appeal to stomp out bad fan behavior. It may seem heavy handed, but so is invading the pitch, lighting flares in the center circle, digging up the pitch, and chasing the players around the field.
I didn't see all 90 minutes (or 97... or 117), but quite honestly, given what I've seen and know from reports, I think there's a lot of wisdom behind upholding an appeal. That said, given the behavior of Hertha fans during the match, there would have to be penalties for their side as well. It's not like a forfeit or a full replay is in order, so I would be interested to see what sort of resolution would be imposed.
Hertha fans were holding up the game with the flares and firecrackers, which prolonged the stoppage time to 7 minutes. Something has to be said about that. What is to prevent away fans to try to gain an advantage by purposely holding up the game with outside interference objects? On the other hand, you got a more serious safety issue with fans/yahoos/whatnots/disgruntled losing team fans all invading the pitch, chasing players around, digging up memory keepsakes of lumps of turf, and gallivanting around like jackasses all before game is due to end. You are in fact denying Hertha the opportunity to score because there is plenty of time left. Even though they came back to finish, apparently Wolfgang Stark blew his whistle too early (I don't blame him because god knows what will happen if Hertha scored that fans might just go postal). This was a charlie foxtrot on the home team's stewardship and security of the venue.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/05/18/hertha.berlin.relegation.ap/index.html Interesting news: Wolfgang Stark files a criminal complaint on a fan that was on the field. No wonder he blew that whistle too early after the lengthy delay.
Criminal complaint against a player off the field, not a fan on the field. Was reading about it elsewhere but the translation was a bit fuzzy... seems like someone grabbed or punched him in the tunnel as he was being chased/followed to the changing room.
I thought it was a fan not a player that did this based on BBC reports. Anywhoo, this is precisely why Bundesliga is going to come down hard on this. You can't have pitch invasions, period. The NCAA has fined the hell out of colleges for court/field invasions involving students. I think it is like 50k per incident that you might as well hire a few more cops for a few grand worth of time that the colleges have done.
I agree that pitch invasions are inexcusible, but you'll always find people saying "no big deal." Alex_K (A Braunschweig fan) posted that in the YA Gameday forum. I really don't get that logic. I don't think fans understand how threatened the players and match officials feel when such incidents occur. In these situations, you're thinking too much about saving your butt and not enough about doing your job.
As a referee, I would be terrified of a pitch invasion, especially in Europe. They are still trying to clean up the hooliganism and the asshattery that goes on a weekly basis. Germany still has its issues regarding crowd disturbances and gets stamped out pretty quickly before it becomes a problem. Let's transplant this exact game and plop it down in Istanbul, you think the ref would make it out of the field without someone trying to get one in?
I was listening to BBC news on my ipod. We'll find out more once the news come out. Too much fuzzy translating going on. Today's Friday and it is 11:30 pm in Berlin right now, they were supposed to announce the decision. No word yet....
You mean the Hertha players sued by the referee for trying to beat him up? Yeah, those poor darlings must have been terrified. The ref, btw, is on record stating that he doesn't believe the Hertha players been afraid. He, however, was, and I quote, "afraid, and almost in tears". No, not because of the Düsseldorf fans, but because the Hertha players who tried to "persuade" them to abandon the game: http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...ertagt-die-entscheidung-faellt-am-montag.html And yeah, if true, this occured off the field. And pitch invasions have never been a big deal. Those happened pretty much every season. Often before the game was over. They have nothing to do with hooliganism.
No one is saying the Hertha fans/players are innocent. It seems that the Hertha players were angry at the refs and the stadium police for letting the situation get out of control. A few Hertha players were also under the impression that the ref had ended the match early, thus depriving them of 2 precious minutes to score. All guilty parties should be brought to justice, whether that means a replay, fines, sanctions, or whatever else.
Well, only if your definition of "no one" doesn't include Hertha themselves. As for the police - it's standard practice to let the fans onto field. The police doesn't actually try to stop pitch invasions in such a situation, at least in Germany.
Nice try Hertha. They were kind of pulling the Sheffield United tactic after they got relegated. They finished the game, but Hertha didn't help the overall situation with the throwing of flares, which prolonged the game. Face it, they were getting relegated whether the 7 minutes were up or not. Sheffield United dropped to League 1 which is the third tier and now fighting their way back into the Championship (2nd tier) with playoff final today. Moral of story: There is a reason you got relegated and instead of going to court to circumvent relegation, how about spending that valuable time during silly season in fixing up the squad for rapid promotion.