After the 2nd round of the DFB Cup, Football Germany is discussing the missing video assistant. That’s only part of the truth.
A missed hand penalty for Elversberg in Berlin, a clear offside position by Bayern’s Luis Díaz before his 1-1 equalizer in Cologne, dubious penalties for Hoffenheim and Hamburg. There were a few actions in the second round of the DFB Cup in which the lack of the video assistant (VAR) became obvious. Because of “capacity reasons” it only exists from the round of 16 onwards. Some mistakes made by the referees therefore went uncorrected.
Bayern’s sports director Max Eberl, Cologne’s coach Lukas Kwasniok and Frankfurt’s board spokesman Axel Hellmann spoke out after the games in favor of an introduction from the second round. But that shouldn’t be the only lesson from the games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Because the bitter truth is: the German referees are overall not at the required level. The DFB is called upon.
Mistakes are human, they happen to players, fans, journalists and even referees. Whether with or without a video assistant: the referees’ performance will never be error-free. Nevertheless, the sheer number of wrong decisions in the DFB Cup should give those responsible pause for thought. The referees don’t give a good impression. It’s not about close offside situations or controversial duels, but about clear mistakes.
Berlin’s Diego Demme’s handball was difficult to miss and the referee’s view was good. The linesman should also have recognized Luis Díaz’s offside position before his goal in Cologne due to the clarity. In the game between FC St. Pauli and TSG Hoffenheim, the referee Daniel Schlager once gave a hand penalty for two almost identical offenses and once refused it. A consistent line should be the aim of every referee.
In the Bundesliga, the video assistant can reduce the number of errors. But this is exactly what leads to the referees becoming worse in their decisions. They are used to having the VAR available as a kind of airbag.
Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok made an interesting comparison: “If you’re always traveling with a navigation system, at some point you won’t learn these streets anymore, you’ll forget it. You can rely on the VAR, and suddenly it’s not there. I think that influences the decision-making a little.”
The second round of the DFB Cup not only showed that the discussion about an earlier introduction of the video assistant makes sense. And above all, it showed that German refereeing is far from its maximum. One solution could be to professionalize the referee’s job so that the referees have more time for their training. Another solution could be to optimize training and further education in order to reduce the error rate even without the VAR. In any case, something has to change because there is too much money at stake in the DFB Cup.