Former FIFA referee Torsten Kinhöfer has criticized referee Martin Petersen for a VAR decision in the Bundesliga game between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund.
“There is an iron rule for referees: a foul is a foul – no matter where it takes place. This rule was broken internally yesterday,” Kinhöfer wrote in his column for “Bild am Sonntag”.
In BVB’s 1-0 victory, guest professional Emre Can touched his opponent Kevin Akpoguma on the edge of the penalty area shortly after the break. After a tip from video assistant Daniel Schlager, Petersen looked at the scene again on the screen, but then gave the dropped ball and no penalty.
“To take back this foul just because it was inside the penalty area is not possible at all. Outside foul, inside no foul? Such a rule bending is almost in the area of a rule violation”, judged Kinhöfer.
However, after the game, Petersen explained to the TV channel “Sky” that he had “seen in the review area that pushing is not enough for a penalty kick” and also not the foot contact, which was “more of a contact below the sole”. . Even Borussia coach Edin Terzic described it as correct that the 37-year-old from Stuttgart later took back a goal from Dortmund’s Marius Wolf.