“It’s a no-go”
Head of referee sharply criticizes Paderborn’s coach
01/20/2025 – 4:21 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Paderborn’s coach gave vent to his anger after the defeat against Hertha BSC. Now referee boss Knut Kircher reacts with clear words.
Referee boss Knut Kircher sharply criticized coach Lukas Kwasniok from SC Paderborn for his comments about the referees on the last matchday. On the DFB homepage, Kircher described Kwasniok’s statements about referee Florian Heft and video assistant Katrin Rafalski after the second division game against Hertha BSC (1:2) on Sunday as “mistaken and sometimes inappropriately polemical”.
After the game, Kwasniok referred to a rivalry between Paderborn and VfL Osnabrück in interviews. He suggested that referee Heft, who lives around 30 kilometers from Osnabrück, might not be impartial because of his background.
Kircher clearly rejected these allegations: “Suggesting that the referee cannot be neutral because of his origin or place of residence is a no-go.” Florian Heft is an experienced referee with over 90 appearances in the second division and has proven his quality several times. “There is absolutely no doubt about Florian Heft’s impartiality – neither in this game nor in principle.”
Kwasniok also expressed clear criticism of video assistant Rafalski. “We’re not in Spain here, we’re in Germany. Has she taken a siesta? She has to help him too,” the coach said on ARD radio: “We have to make sure that everyone is on task and not just watching the repetition on Lindenstrasse.” Kircher reacted: “Such condescending polemics are unacceptable and call into question the integrity of Katrin Rafalski. This is intolerable.”
The focus of the discussion was a scene in the final phase in which Paderborn’s Sven Michel fell to the ground in the penalty area after a challenge with Hertha’s Deyovaisio Zeefuik. Heft allowed the game to continue and Rafalski did not intervene. Kircher described Kwasniok’s criticism as “completely unjustified.”
There was no “clear support worthy of punishment” and not deciding on a penalty was “appropriate”. Furthermore, video assistant Rafalski acted correctly in the game-relevant situations, this also applies to the duel between Zeefuik and Michel. Kircher understands emotions in the game, but emphasized: “If it is suggested that the referee could possibly be biased and the video assistant is accused of following soap operas instead of the game, that is clearly going too far.”