“Too petty, not good, bad”
BVB coach Niko Kovač with devastating criticism of the referee
October 18, 2025 – 10:05 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In the top game between FC Bayern and BVB, the referee had to evaluate several controversial scenes. BVB coach Niko Kovač comes to a devastating verdict.
Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovač expressed clear criticism of referee Bastian Dankert after the defeat in the top game against Bayern Munich (1:2). Above all, the evaluation of Harry Kane’s goal to make it 0-1 was a thorn in the side of the BVB coach. “For me, this is a clear wrong decision because of his decision to blow a petty whistle. He should have taken that back,” said Kovač.
Before scoring, Kane slightly pushed his guard Serhou Guirassy. “He whistled today in such a way that he should have whistled it too. He whistled everything, so pettily,” said Kovač: “His entire game was not good. I have to say that, we can’t always go back to business as usual.”
Kovač’s conclusion was: “Too petty, not good, bad. Now I’ll get in trouble again, but I have to say this.”
Dankert, however, defended his decision. “It’s not a push, it’s not a shove in the back from Guirassy. Accordingly, I was very confident in my decision to recognize this goal. I passed this on to my video assistant, who confirmed it again,” said the referee.
The duel was “common practice in the Bundesliga, and that’s why I recognized the goal,” said Dankert and pointed out: “If we turn the situation around now, we’ll have a penalty for it. I don’t think anyone in football Germany would want that.”
Dankert accepted Kovač’s criticism: “I’ve known Niko for a while now. Of course, he can also express his opinion on it. That’s completely normal. I’ve decided based on this situation that I can’t take it back, I can’t reverse it. And accordingly I also accept what he says.”