Hand game VAR confusion in the cup: video evidence at the last second causes a stir

Hand game VAR confusion in the cup
Last-second video evidence causes a stir

Seconds before the end of the DFB Cup semi-final, the ball fell on a player from Frankfurt in his own penalty area. Referee Daniel Schlager looked at the images on the screen for minutes. The people of Stuttgart are waiting for the whistle – it doesn’t come. The disappointment is great.

The Frankfurt players hugged each other with relief, and coach Oliver Glasner was also overwhelmed by feelings. After anxiously waiting for minutes, it was clear: Eintracht can still win, moves into the DFB Cup final and, after the crash in the Bundesliga, can continue to hope for the European Cup. Referee Daniel Schlager watched Aurélio Buta’s handball several times in injury time on the monitor and then decided against a penalty – the hard-fought 3-2 (0-1) win at VfB Stuttgart remained.

“We’ve seen everything. The referee goes out and looks at it – and then a huge lump fell down,” said Glasner on ARD. “The disappointment is huge,” admitted VfB keeper Fabian Bredlow and commented on the controversial scene: “The ball is clearly on the arm. With a bit of luck we’ll get the penalty and we shoot it 3: 3 and it goes into the Renewal.” Meanwhile, it is not a question of luck for VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß. “It’s difficult for us to accept how it was decided,” he said. It was a “difficult decision,” admitted Hoeneß. For him it was a punishable hand game.

Impartial hit “is happy”

Referee Schlager himself appeared in front of the ARD cameras in the evening and explained why he had decided against a possibly momentous penalty whistle. The Frankfurt defender involved in this scene undoubtedly got the ball on his upper arm, said Schlager. Before that, the ball was deflected by a Stuttgart player. “It wasn’t a punishable offense for me because it was a normal course of action for a defender,” said Schlager. It was by no means an intentional handball.

Due to the scope of the decision, he and video assistant Sören Storks decided to watch the scene again. “In the end I’m glad I saw the pictures and they confirmed my decision.”

At Frankfurt, relief prevailed after the non-whistle. “We were lucky there. You can whistle that differently,” admitted Frankfurt’s sporting director Markus Krösche. Since Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy had also touched the ball beforehand, it was difficult for Buta. “There was a penalty for less. But there were also situations with a clear handball and no penalty,” said Eintracht professional Mario Götze. It is “difficult to rate”.

“Basically difficult with this handball”

Ex-national player Bastian Schweinsteiger said as an expert in the ARD TV broadcast: “I say that there are referees who give penalties. There are referees who don’t give it.” It’s “fundamentally difficult with this handball. If the ball is slightly deflected, then the defender can’t do much. If it’s not deflected, it’s his turn with the hand. Basically, it’s not a natural movement.”

The debates about the video evidence will not stop even after the non-existent hand penalty from Stuttgart. Most recently, it was the wrong decision of referee Sascha Stegemann, who had overlooked a clear foul in the penalty area in the Bundesliga championship race in the game between Borussia Dortmund and VfL Bochum – and did not receive any information from his colleague in Cologne.

Instead, there was praise for the impartial hit in this situation. “Regardless of the decision, I think that the scenario has to be exactly the same,” said Frankfurt coach Glasner. If the ball is in hand, the VAR must intervene. “The referee should take the time to go out and look at it and evaluate it,” said Glasner. “The scenario has to be exactly the way that the VAR gets more acceptance again.” “Every coach, player or football fan can live with this procedure”.

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