Compare “Collina’s heirs”.
Ahamada: yellow-red for being too close to the fans
By Alex Feuerherdt
01/26/2023, 7:31 p.m
Stuttgart’s Naouirou Ahamada has to leave the field with yellow and red because he celebrates too much with the fans after a goal. Since this is a compulsory warning, the referee has no choice. The case is reminiscent of an even stranger occurrence more than ten years ago.
In the game between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart (2: 2), many stadium visitors and also the television viewers should have been a bit at a loss after 78 minutes: Wataru Endo had just scored the opening goal to make it 2: 1 for the guests when it was ecstatic the Stuttgarter suddenly gave yellow-red for Naouirou Ahamada, who had prepared the goal. Several VfB players protested to referee Florian Badstübner about the sending off, and not a few observers asked themselves: What had Ahamada – who had been warned five minutes earlier for complaining – done that caused the referee to issue this sanction?
The answer was soon provided by the television pictures: after scoring, Ahamada jumped over an advertising board behind the Hoffenheim goal and ran to the away block, where he climbed a small set of stairs and went to the VfB fans gathered there, to hug some of them closely to celebrate. The rules provide for a yellow card for this form of goal celebration. Leaving the field of play to celebrate “is not in itself an offense that deserves a warning”, as Rule 12 (“Fouls and other misconduct”) states. The players are only “required to return as soon as possible”.
But it goes on to say: “A player will be cautioned, even if the goal is disallowed, if he climbs a fence and/or approaches spectators in a manner that creates a safety concern.” One of the best-known cases in this regard in the history of the Bundesliga occurred a little over ten years ago in the game between Hannover 96 and Werder Bremen, when the Hannoveraner Szabolcs Huszti tore his jersey off his body after his winning goal to make it 3-2 in injury time and then scaled a fence to cheer with the fans.
A mandatory warning like Huszti once did
Referee Deniz Aytekin had shown Huszti the yellow card for taking off his jersey and then yellow-red for climbing the fence with a gesture of regret. A certainly curious decision, which DFB referee instructor Lutz Wagner expressly rated as correct. Aytekin had “no room for maneuver” and his “hands were tied,” he said. Because these were so-called mandatory warnings, which are not at the discretion of the referee. Other examples of such mandatory warnings are entering the field without permission, shortening the distance from the wall – if the referee therefore allows the free kick to be repeated – and trying to circumvent the so-called back pass rule.
In many football stadiums there are no longer any fences that you could climb, but instead, for example, stairs like in the home ground of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. But according to the rules, it is also worth warning if you approach the spectators in such a way that safety is affected. This means both the safety of the player concerned, who could accidentally be injured by jubilant fans, and the safety of parts of the audience trying to get as close as possible to the player in the euphoria.
Understandable but forbidden exuberance
Getting up close and personal with the cheering crowd like Ahamada may be an understandable need given the exuberance of emotions – but according to the rules it has been prohibited for several years as a form of exaggerated goal celebration, just like taking off your jersey. And at least in Germany, the referees usually pronounce this mandatory warning consistently. Deniz Aytekin said at the time about yellow-red against Huszti that he was “sorry” about this sanction, and his colleague Florian Badstübner was probably not very upset that he had no choice. But the rule in question both had to apply, and therefore the sending off was a correct decision.
Incidentally, when Ahamada took a dip in the crowd, his team-mates kept their distance and Konstantinos Mavropanos had a visibly serious word with the 20-year-old before he left the field. This suggests that his teammates knew exactly what this style of goal celebration entailed. Outnumbered, VfB Stuttgart finally conceded the equalizer, Ahamada had done his team the famous disservice. However, he also had reason to be angry: when his opponent Stanley Nsoki hit him in the face with his elbow in the 60th minute in the Hoffenheim penalty area during a header duel, a penalty kick would have been appropriate. But there wasn’t.
Pavlenka’s mistake has no consequences
In the game between SV Werder Bremen and 1. FC Union Berlin (1-2), the hosts were lucky just before the break that the goal, which came after their goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka failed to clear the ball, ultimately didn’t count. Berlin’s Kevin Behrens had deflected the ball from close range during Pavlenka’s liberation, and his team-mate Sheraldo Becker then hit the goal. Referee Bastian Dankert initially did not see any irregularities, but video assistant Sören Storks noticed when checking the goal that Behrens had played the ball with his hand.
After the following on-field review, Dankert annulled the goal. Behrens’ recognizable intention was to block the ball in the jump, preferably with his left leg stretched out and brought into the ball’s trajectory. However, the ball flew against the hand of the left arm, which Behrens had spread a little away from the body. A normal posture when jumping or an unnatural enlargement of the body surface? From a technical point of view, it can be argued that if you spread your arms out with the intention of blocking the ball and stretch your arms out to the side, you are at least willing to accept a handball. It was therefore understandable and in accordance with the rules that the VAR intervened here and the referee finally denied the goal.
Why Lindstrom only gets yellow despite VAR intervention
Referee Deniz Aytekin had the match between SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt (1:1) under control at all times. The video assistant also intervened in this game after 68 minutes. When the guests counterattacked, Jesper Lindström played the ball down the right wing just before the center line, Philipp Lienhart then stepped in his way and tried to prevent him from continuing. The Frankfurt acknowledged this by tripping the Freiburg player. Lienhart then involuntarily hooked himself and fell. Both actions happened off the ball, which referee Aytekin followed. It was therefore obvious that he had not noticed what had happened between Lindstrom and Lienhart.
Lindström’s tripping off the ball – evidently the revenge for Lienhart’s attempt to stop the opponent with unfair means – could have been rated as an attempt at assault if the rules were strictly interpreted. And probably because the incident remained hidden from Aytekin, there was an on-field review after consultation with VAR Pascal Müller. It didn’t take Aytekin long to come to a conclusion on the monitor: he gave Lindström a yellow card. This was supported by the fact that Frankfurt’s actions were not a clear step and that he lacked the brutality that characterizes assault. The warning was therefore compliant with the rules due to the discretion of the referee – and it was also a better decision, because a field expulsion would have seemed excessive here, especially since Aytekin did not have a strict line overall.
Some may have wondered how it can be that there is only a yellow card after a VAR intervention including an on-field review. The VAR protocol provides the explanation: After such a review on the monitor, the decision must always be completely correct from the point of view of the referees. So if there is a review because of a possible red card, but the referee, after looking at the pictures, decides that a sending off would be inappropriate or wrong, he can also give a lower personal penalty – just the warning. So he is by no means only left with the choice of either showing the red card or completely forgoing a sanction. That means: There is no on-field review because of a missing warning, but it can happen that after an intervention because of a possibly missing red card, the yellow card comes out at the end.