Referee Sascha Stegemann was the focus of the Bundesliga duel between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund. BVB clearly felt disadvantaged by the referee. Now the game master has spoken.
Borussia Dortmund couldn’t get past a 1-1 draw against VfL Bochum on Friday evening and is in danger of losing the lead in the Bundesliga to FC Bayern again.
After the final whistle, the black and yellow quarreled mainly with referee Stegemann. After all, the 38-year-old didn’t decide on a penalty in the 65th minute after Bochum’s Danilo Soares had caught Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi clearly in his own penalty area.
“After looking at it, it’s a penalty in the situation with Adeyemi for BVB. However, I didn’t see it that way on the pitch at all,” Stegemann reacted to “Bild” on Saturday.
“The defender had a high pace and I was sure Adeyemi had put his foot in it. Of course, the video assistant watched the scene and evaluated it. The assessment was: no obvious wrong decision, so there was no recommendation that I look at it myself,” he explained.
“It was a very, very short night”
BVB were annoyed that Stegemann didn’t go to the VAR screen. “If I had had doubts about my decision, then that would have been an option, yes. But I didn’t have that at the moment. In retrospect, I have to say: I would have been happy if I had looked at it again,” admitted the referee .
The vortex on Friday evening left its mark on him. “I’m really annoyed, I feel like shit. It was a very, very short night, I’m not fine with it,” revealed Stegemann.
Referee Stegemann understands BVB frustration
BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl, head coach Edin Terzic and captain Marco Reus are said to have gone into the referee’s cabin after the match.
“I totally understand that emotions, including very strong ones, come up there. I’m not just a referee, I’m also a footballer,” said Stegemann about BVB’s displeasure: “Dortmund feel they’ve been treated unfairly. But I ask for your understanding: what what is spoken and what happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room. What I can say: Terzic and I ended up parting on good terms.”
As “Bild” reports, the referee should not have made a special report.