“Makes such a game annoying”
Steffen Baumgart scolds referees and UEFA
11/04/2022 7:04 am
Steffen Baumgart is pissed after the bitter departure of his 1. FC Köln from the Conference League. The coach does not agree with the performance of the referees and the actions of UEFA. “It’s difficult at the moment,” says Baumgart.
Coach Steffen Baumgart criticized UEFA in his usual pithy words after the experiences with 1. FC Köln in the Europa Conference League. “It’s the service provider that’s supposed to organize the competition. It shouldn’t be the focus of it all,” said the 50-year-old after his team’s elimination after the 2-2 win against OGC Nice. “Sometimes I have the feeling that it’s a bit the other way around: that we’re the by-product and the focus is something else. And I just don’t like that,” said Baumgart, referring to the European Football Union.
There are “very, very many things” where he thinks: “People, get your suppository out of your butt and relax a bit.” Baumgart said: “It’s about football and I just miss that a bit. I don’t want to offend anyone, but that just annoys me.” From his point of view, Baumgart cited nonsensical protocols that had to be observed as an example. He also complained about the fourth official on the sidelines: “Two minutes before the end, the boys are emotional and stand and then the fourth comes and wants to sit the boys down.”
Currently, the coach in the dramatic game against OGC Nice, which ended in a bitter end for the committed Cologne team in the Conference League, annoyed the coach “two bitter moments that make such a game annoying”: Goal scorer Gaetan Laborde scored before the French made it 1-0 touches the ball with his hand. “If he was on the ball with his hand, it wasn’t a regular goal,” said Baumgart: “It doesn’t matter if it’s tight, it’s close, it’s not a regular goal.” Later, after the Bundesliga club repaired a two-goal deficit with great morale, the stadium exploded after 1. FC Köln’s supposed opening goal. But the goal to make it 3-2 was not recognized – because Sargis Adamyan was ruled offside. “When it was 3-2, Sargis said he wasn’t on the ball at all,” said Baumgart. The problem: there is no video assistant in the group phase of the Conference League, the scene could not be resolved in the game.
Baumgart used the game and the performance of the Spanish referee Cesar Soto Grande to generally criticize the referees his team had to deal with in the past few weeks: “The way the boys are whistling at the moment and are on the sidelines … I I don’t want to get used to it because it’s annoying. Not only because of the action before the 0:1, it’s already quite interesting. Yesterday I saw a penalty where the opponent got the ball with his back . It’s all a bit difficult at the moment.”