Whether in Bremen, Berlin or Cologne – the handball rule is once again causing confusion and annoyance. Sports show expert Lutz Wagner comments.
The fact that Leverkusen defender Odilon Kossounou did not score a penalty in the 83rd minute in the 2-2 win against Hertha BSC and the VAR did not even intervene surprised many observers on Saturday (September 10th, 2022).
Especially if you compare this scene with the penalty whistle that came in added time in Augsburg’s 1-0 win in Bremen: FCA defender Maximilian Bauer only touched the ball minimally when he turned away – but referee Martin pointed Petersen to the point and was not ordered to the sidelines to study the video.
Coronation in Cologne
And on Sunday the whole thing continued seamlessly. In the duel between 1. FC Köln and Union Berlin, FC defender Luca Kilian even had his back to the ball in the 9th minute, had the most natural of all hand positions – and still got a penalty whistle, which the VAR didn’t collect again .
Not a good trend for the DFB
The problem is obvious: there is no clear line with the referees. Similar or even the same scenes are interpreted differently: on Friday like this, on Saturday differently and on Sunday it becomes almost grotesque. A clear trend can be seen from the interviews and reactions in the stadium, which the DFB, as the umbrella organization for referees, cannot please: Neither players, coaches, nor TV experts, and certainly not the fans, can any longer understand when a handball is now punishable – and when not.
But the DFB wants to work on that. Referee instructor and ARD expert Lutz Wagner explains to Sportschau how this should work: “We have to clearly name mistakes so that the public doesn’t take a wrong decision as a reference. The penalty kick in Bremen was a wrong decision.” If you know that the scene in Bremen was not worthy of a penalty, then the decision from Berlin is easier to understand.
“Gray areas remain”
Referee Benjamin Brand told Sportschau after the game in Berlin: “I have to use two arguments: Was it an unnatural movement of the arm? And was it intentional? Even though I’ve seen the pictures in the meantime, I can deny both.”
He could understand this argumentation, said Wagner, “because it is conclusive”. He doesn’t see that Kossounou deliberately enlarged his body with the intention of fending off the ball with his arm. “One of the things that speaks against it is that he’s still trying to pull his arm away.”
More difficult is the question of how far the arm can be spread out from the body. “I can also understand when someone says that in this case it was already too far.” The scene be “a critical example at the absolute limit”.
Referee portal for timely feedback
In order to achieve as uniform a line as possible among the referees and video assistants, the DFB has been using a referee portal since 2011. There, all relevant scenes of a game day are published as videos and discussed in a timely manner.
Ittrich defends himself against “Shitstorm” on Collina’s heirs
However, the discussion about the right and wrong of these whistles also takes on forms that cannot be justified – if they contain insults and hate messages. The fact that the podcast rule experts from “Collinas Erben” justified the missed penalty kick in Berlin brought them a “shitstorm”, as a result of which they deactivated their Twitter account.
Referee Patrick Ittrich got this upset, and he also campaigned for the experts on Twitter: “Collina’s heirs have been doing valuable work for a long time. Every fan should be grateful. Shitstorm instead! On what basis do you take the right to treat people like this? Stadium or Internet, how little reflected can you be? Your fan status doesn’t justify anything!”