Learned I have Covid today, so I’ll be watching a lot of TV the next 3-4 days. I’ll start the 22-23 Germany referee thread since I’m watching Dortmund in a Pokal match.. First off, I cannot say how much I don’t like the new Adidas referee kits. Those backpack stripes are awful. They look like something I’d loop around a four year old’s shoulders at the airport so I don’t lose him ……
This has obviously made the rounds online but I've yet to see what precipitated this. Why/how did the Leipzig player receive the ball in what seemed to be an obvious offside position (maybe he wasn't?), deep in his attacking third, and face no pressure from the nearest defender? Were Leipzig appearing to play the ball back? The fact that the Bayern player didn't challenge at all is confusing. On the facts, of course the AR is correct. In the spirit of the game, I think many ARs would verbally tell the Bayern player that the ball was still in play (we say things like "ball's in" or "keep playing" all the time). Of course, it would be on stereotype for a German AR not to do so. Is there a right answer? No.
Bayern's Davies was "injured" while Neuer had the ball in his hands. He threw the ball out of play so Davies could be treated. Olmo received the ball directly from the ensuing throw-in so he wasn't offside. I think he probably intended to roll the ball over the line but not too far so Bayern couldn't waste more time. But many people have suggested that he left the ball on the line on purpose.
I watched a short part of a German match last week. Substitution being made. The board was held up by someone from the substituting team. The 4th seemed to be looking at the players cards. Is this common in Germany?
Ah, that makes more sense. I mean, without being able to discern Olmo's motives (I could be persuaded either way without having watched) and, frankly, regardless of what they were, ultimately it's the factually correct call by the AR. Whether or not it's the right way to go about it as the AR is debatable and probably up to personal taste.
It's common in a lot of places and became more so during COVID. The team delegates are responsible in many/most European competitions for making sure the subs are ready and properly documented. In many competitions that extends to programming and displaying the board themselves. Actual instructions vary competition-to-competition, and within competitions practice might differ team-to-team and official-to-official, but it's not some wild anomaly.
Right. Again, falling back on stereotypes, it seemed quite German. I could see most English ARs saying "it's in, it's in, keep going" or something of the like. Of course, such stereotypes aren't always neatly applicable.
Red card for Leverkusen's goalkeeper Hradecky in stoppage time for handling outside the box after OFR. Look how Brych went to explain the decision to Hradecky. Brych gave a detailed account after the match. "I explained it to Lukas Hradecky, I get on very well with him and I appreciate him. He's a fair sportsman who always comes after the game and says thank you, you can really talk to him. I was almost sorry that I had to make such a tough decision, but there was no other choice." Really refreshing when a referee does this. Though not easy unless you are already experienced in the league and the players know you well. http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/f...hradecky-tat-mir-fast-leid-80931194.bild.html
While I like the way he talks to the GK, I’m not a fan of showing the red from 50 yards away while running.
Meh. Everyone knew and Brych is Brych. I’m more taken aback by the spot of the free kick. Allowing Dortmund to get that position, given what the offence was and where it was, is definitely a no-no.
99.9% of the time as an AR at the top level, it won't matter that you stopped sprinting there. But that 0.1% looks really bad on video.
Fair enough. I still don’t like the optics, but I that context you I take your point.(And VAR makes us live with some things we otherwise wouldn’t.)
https://clip.dubz.co/v/m72xns Watch this one. Watch the reaction of the player who got stepped on. Immediately gets up and shakes hands.
This is the other side of the pendulum, right? Like if people want clear red cards given via an objective standard, then this is a red card. But most people involved in the game would say this is completely unnecessary to punish and that it’s the sort of “miss” that is okay (if they even concede it’s a miss). With VAR founded on the premise that there is an objective standard for clear penalties and red cards, you were always either going to have stuff like this or the uncalled stuff you see in England. Given it’s a global game, it shouldn’t be surprising that you are seeing both types of incidents every weekend.
For those who think England has by far the worst refereeing quality right now (seems like more than a few around here...), check out this article about nepotism, VAR, and FIFA nominations in German refereeing: https://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/...t-um-vetternwirtschaft-und-81425244.bild.html It's in German, but I suppose Google Translate would do a decent job.
Is simple facts of refereeing life reported there, to be honest. Gräfe's opinion of himself is way too inflated. I think all refs in VAR leagues are struggling with consistency. DFB refereeing isn't great but you could create this article for any (top five) league very easily tbh.
Certainly true for the Serie A, given the shockers so far this season. Though I should point out that the majority of quotes and content in the article are not due to Gräfe.
Report has it that Aytekin will referee Dortmund - Bayern. In the past, referees were not allowed to take charge of Bundesliga matches involving teams from the same state, but this rule has been relaxed since the pandemic. Aytekin is from Bavaria, whose capital is Munich. https://www.spox.com/de/sport/fussb...schen-borussia-dortmund-und-dem-fc-bayen.html
Sascha Stegemann admitted a mistake in Frankfurt's 1-2 loss to Dortmund when he did not give Frankfurt a penalty. According to him, the VAR only checked the four standard camera angles and terminated the check process too early. https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/sport/stegemann-elfmeter-frankfurt-borussia-dortmund-100.html
Gräfe and the DFB could not agree on a settlement in their age limit dispute, and the matter is now in court. The DFB says that there is no age limit, and if someone still has the whole package, he could go on beyond 47 years old. Gräfe says that there is a large consensus among the referees that there is an age limit, and if not for the age, he would still be on the field. https://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussba...inigen-a-687060d3-af6f-4f4e-81d2-53b7864be3e5
Gräfe is successful in his case against the DFB on age discrimination, and the court has ordered the DFB to pay 48,500 Euros to him. As part of the reasoning, the court pointed out that the last referees who were allowed to referee beyond 47 years of age were Heinz Aldinger and Walter Eschweiler, and that was in the early 1980s. This may well help Brych and others to continue in the Bundesliga beyond 47 years old. https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/spor...efe-dfb-urteil-altersdiskriminierung-100.html