There shouldn’t have been a penalty
Referee boss complains about wrong decisions in BVB game
October 30, 2023, 6:56 p.m
The duel between Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund ends in a draw. But there is great excitement about the referee’s decisions afterwards. The sporting director of the referees is also dissatisfied – in his opinion there are mistakes to the detriment of both clubs.
The sporting director of the Bundesliga referees, Peter Sippel, criticized two wrong decisions by referee Robert Schröder in the duel between Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund (3:3). Accordingly, Schröder initially awarded the Hessians an unjustified hand penalty in the game on Sunday and later denied a clear penalty, Sippel explained in a statement from the German Football Association. Both scenes caused heavy criticism after the final whistle.
According to Sippel, there was no intent in the handball by BVB defender Marius Wolf, which was punished according to video evidence. “The fact that Wolf’s arm is spread far away from his body initially suggests a punishable handball. But in this case, the Dortmund player’s attempt to free himself is based on a normal sequence of movements. Wolf is not acting intentionally or negligently; he does not want to stop the ball “, but out of the penalty area. Therefore, the handball is not punishable,” said Sippel about the scene before Frankfurt’s 1-0 win.
Schröder was also wrong when assessing a foul by Dortmund goalkeeper Alexander Meyer on Marmoush in the penalty area. In this situation, Meyer narrowly missed the ball with his hands and then hit the striker on the right lower leg with his right hand. However, the referee allowed the game to continue and, according to the TV images, stuck to his decision. “Here, however, a penalty would have been the correct decision, as the pictures show a foul by Meyer on Marmoush,” explained Sippel.
However, the referee correctly assessed two other tricky scenes. Before BVB’s 2-2 draw by Youssoufa Moukoko, his teammate Niclas Füllkrug was not actively offside. In such situations there is “some room for interpretation,” says Sippel. Schröder’s decision was acceptable. This also applies to a jersey tug from Frankfurt’s Hugo Larsson to Nico Schlotterbeck, which the referee did not punish with a penalty shortly before the end.