In the 3rd league
“I’m bursting”: Referee anger after clear wrong decisions
December 7, 2025 – 7:43 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
There is currently no video evidence in the 3rd league. But that would probably have been helpful this Sunday in Rostock.
Referee trouble in the 3rd league: In the game between Hansa Rostock and Alemannia Aachen (2:2), referee Daniel Bartnitzki made several misfires that put the guests out Aachen made angry. Captain Bentley Baxter Bahn spoke on MagentaTV about “two blatantly wrong decisions”.
After watching the scenes in the replay, Bahn became annoyed: “I’m bursting. That has nothing to do with the hand. That’s the back. So with all the love. And what does that have to do with the hand? Is the hand even up or somewhere nearby? Well, that’s crazy. That’s really crazy.”
In the 10th minute of the game, Aachen’s Danilo Wiebe received a high ball in the back in a duel with Rostock’s Andreas Voglsammer. Referee Bartnitzki mistakenly saw the ball in Wiebe’s hand – and showed the red card. A clear mistake.
The next excitement came in stoppage time in the first half. When the score was 0-1, Bartnitzki pointed to the Aachen point and gave Rostock a penalty. But that was also a clear mistake. On the one hand, Alemannia defender da Silva Kiala got the ball to his head, not his hand. On the other hand, the alleged offense was outside the penalty area. Rostock’s Kenan Fatkić converted the resulting penalty.
The guests from Aachen, including Captain Bahn, were visibly upset. Bahn demanded a tablet on which the referees could watch such a scene again – an indirect call for the video evidence that exists in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga, but not in the 3rd league. “If it’s not the expensive stuff, then let’s just get an iPad. (…) It’s also quick for the referee, so let’s provide him with tools too.” Bahn was convinced: “The referee is also angry when he sees that.”
Aachen’s coach Mersad Selimbegovic remained calm in his assessment of the referee’s performance. “I saw the scenes and he didn’t have a good day,” he commented. Rostock’s central defender Ahmet Gürleyen reassured: “Referees are not without mistakes either.”