The distribution of blame could also be included in the assessment. If the responsibility lay solely with the team of referees, i.e. the fourth official should not have let two Bavarians onto the field before two Bavarians had also left the field – then the club would possibly be relieved.
Referee Dingert also knows very well that this is not the case: in the cup match between Preußen Münster and VfL Wolfsburg on August 8, 2021, he allowed Wolfsburg to make one change too many. Nevertheless, VfL was subsequently disqualified because, according to the rules, the club and not the referee is responsible for the number of substitutions.
Black Peter suddenly at the sports club
But the DFB did not intervene on its own in this game either, Preußen Münster initially had to lodge a protest – and got away with it in the end. But why is it like that? The DFB sets its rules, and therefore the DFB must also monitor compliance and sanction non-compliance.
Control committee boss Anton Nachreiner says: “The control committee is not involved as long as Freiburg does not object.”
It is unspeakable that the clubs are responsible for denouncing the violations, for “snitching”. And in the current case, this means that SC Freiburg now has the buck, although it had nothing to do with the violation, but in the person of defender Nico Schlotterbeck also contributed to its early termination.
Dilemma for Freiburg
Freiburg now has to consider: Do you preserve the image of a fair flagship club and waive the objection? And if at the end of the season one or three points are missing to get into the Champions or Europa League, which can amount to a big double-digit million sum? Burdening this decision on the club and initially ducking away as an association is the real mistake in the statutes of the DFB.