Bundesliga: referee Stegemann apologizes to Borussia Dortmund

You learn from mistakes. Even from those of others. In Germany it is customary for the referees to meet with the press at the end of the game. Sascha Stegemann, the referee in Bochum-Dortmund (1-1) on Friday, also spoke in front of the cameras.

Borussia complained about three serious mistakes: the first on Bochum’s lead goal (the match ended 1-1), an action in which a push on Emre Can was not recognized. Then, after the yellow and black draw, two episodes in the hosts’ area: a touch of the hand and, above all, a sprawling intervention by Soares on Adeyemi. The defender, already booked, would have been sent off and Borussia would have benefited from a penalty. “I don’t understand how it is possible that the Var has not been appealed, reviewing one of the most evident irregularities of recent years,” Hummels wrote on social media. So evident that both Stegemann and the German Football Association apologized after the match.

EXCUSES

—

With Friday’s draw, Dortmund risks losing the top of the table (Bayern would only need to beat bottom Hertha in the match on 30 April), with just 4 games to go. Stegemann’s mistake therefore weighs not only on the race, but on the whole championship. “When things go like Friday, you take the bad feelings home with you – the referee explained to Sky Deutschland -. He sleeps with his head full, he asks himself many questions. Everything that happened I can’t process. I’m not only a referee, but also a fan and a man.” The match director also justified the nervousness at the end of the game, when CEO Watzke, coach Terzic and captain Reus invaded his dressing room: “Dortmund have the chance, after so many years, to win the championship and if you don’t give him a more than justified penalty, then it’s understandable that your nerves snap. I didn’t make the right decision, I slept badly, and also woke up the next morning with a bad feeling. I thought Adeyemi was looking for the contact and therefore the penalty, but I was wrong. The Var didn’t think it was a clear and obvious mistake and didn’t advise me to review the action. But it would have been better to reevaluate everything ”.

THE GERMAN FEDERATION

—

Even the Dfb acknowledged the mistake: “Soares doesn’t hit the ball, only the opponent, unbalancing him: it’s a foul and therefore it was a penalty, as the images also demonstrate”. At Dortmund, however, no one will restore the lost points and, possibly, not even the top of the standings. Yet in Germany referees do my fault, acknowledging the mistakes even publicly, placating, at least in part, the controversies. This is why we learn from mistakes. Even from those of others, observing how they are managed.