The new Bundesliga season started with new rules. In advance, this was not just a joy. Schiri boss Knut Kircher draws a first balance after two match days.
The recalculation of the stoppage time, time game rule for goalkeepers, the captain rule or the Handshaker gel 70 minutes before the start of the game: referee, player, trainer and fans have to prepare for a lot of new things.
“I am someone who likes to give things a chance. And if you have not tried something over a few game days, but would like to abolish it again, I would somehow think it is pointless,” says Knut Kircher, Managing Director of Schiri GmbHnow at SWR Sport.
Mixed reactions before the season
As on almost every change, there were critical reactions to the new rules before the season. For Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok, for example, the new “Kokolores” hand shaker sail is. She is “a nice idea, but I also have a lot of ideas that turn out to be wrong afterwards.” Julian Schuster from SC Freiburg, on the other hand, wants to “give the whole thing a chance”.
Schiri boss Kircher sees positive aspects, for example with the time game rule for goalkeepers: “It accelerates the game and we have only had one case in the 3. League, where you had to count down, but otherwise everyone has already prepared in preparation.”
On average three to four minutes more per game
The new replica time also provides great discussions. According to SWR Sport calculations, an average of almost ten minutes of stoppage was reported in the new season in the first and second half. Freiburg against Augsburg with a total of 17 minutes is currently displayed.
“We have been repeatedly shot in advance that added time was pure arbitrariness. That is why we are now making it more transparent and that could lead to more added time,” explains Kircher. According to the 56-year-old, there are an average of three and a half to four minutes more per game compared to last season. “This is stable, I think.”
More media pressure but also more transparency
The official explains why this is so. “On the one hand, we have a lot more cameras in the stadium, we have media that analyze all scenes in detective small work and of course social media, so you will be totally balled as a referee.” In addition, it is often not just about indisputable scenes, says Kircher.
However, media attention can also be something good. That shows The second season of the ARD documentary “impartial”in which the best referees in Germany are accompanied. “Due to the first season, we have already created a high level of transparency and a great understanding,” said Kircher. The audience would now see what referees do and endure.
Kircher, who lives in Rottenburg in Württemberg, led 244 Bundesliga games as referees and 128 games of the 2nd league. Between 2004 and 2012 he was a FIFA referee. In 2011 and 2012 he was “referee of the year” in Germany.
Prize on Sun., 31.8.2025 9:45 p.m., SWR Sport, SWR
