What was happening there? During an ARD interview with Bayern player Thomas Müller, referee Denis Aytekin can suddenly be heard scolding loudly in the background: the target of his tirade: referee expert Manuel Graefe.
Referee Deniz Aytekin also made Thomas Müller smile with a rant after FC Bayern’s top Bundesliga game against RB Leipzig. The national player was in the TV interview when Aytekin expressed his anger at a media request about a scene at 1: 3 of Munich and provided air through expert Manuel Gräfe – you can listen to it in our audio from minute 1:45.
“In the stadium nobody talks about the referee,” Aytekin said angrily, clearly audible in the catacombs. The former referee Gräfe sits in Berlin “and talks such shit and that’s slowly going against the grain. It’s crazy.” Müller, who was standing a few meters away, stopped speaking in front of the camera and said: “We’re listening intently.”
Aytekin apologizes…
The 49-year-old Gräfe critically observes the performance of the referees as a TV expert on ZDF and via Twitter. He should “speak some shit about a pluck,” Aytekin now scolded. “It has nothing to do with sport anymore. The game was decided by the players.”
The 44-year-old then apologized to Müller for disturbing his interview. “It’s fine, I’m happy to listen,” the 33-year-old replied with a smile. In the ZDF “Sportstudio” late on Saturday evening, the scene before Leipzig’s 1-1 draw was discussed. Aytekin explained that he could not call a foul for Bayern despite a slight save. Gräfe had tweeted: “Jovitic’s short stop at Hertha against Bochum will be punished by VAR, […] At Bayern against Leipzig there is a short hold – let’s go, 1: 1.”
… and announces donation
Aytekin also said on Sunday that he and his team were happy to have survived the important game in Munich without making any major mistakes. That’s why he got very emotional when he was asked for an interview about Gräfe’s criticism immediately after the game. “Then I freaked out. I would like to apologize for the choice of words. That was completely over the top. I’m very angry with myself and the choice of words,” said Aytekin on “Bild” and announced a donation of 5,000 euros for a good one purpose as penance for his freak out.
Gräfe was a top referee when he was active. But now he is “waging some kind of war against the DFB and someone responsible,” said Aytekin. This should not be at the expense of the currently active referees. Gräfe should rather get involved in the training of young referees. Among other things, Gräfe sued the DFB because of the age limit of 47 for referees.
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Source: Blickpunkt Sport 21.05.2023 – 9:45 p.m
