Referee’s error in Dortmund vs Bayern Munich match casts pall on Bundesliga race; no help from VAR
The Hindu
A refereeing error has become the focus of attention in the Bundesliga after it helped Bayern Munich regain the lead from Borussia Dortmund with four rounds of the league remaining.
A refereeing error has become the focus of attention in the Bundesliga after it helped Bayern Munich regain the lead from Borussia Dortmund with four rounds of the league remaining.
The video assistant referee didn't intervene to award a penalty in Dortmund's game on April 28 as the team was held to a 1-1 draw with Bochum on Friday night, a result that could have a major impact on the title race.
The German football federation acknowledged on Saturday that referee Sascha Stegemann should have given the penalty “without the need for support from the video assistant”. However, it did not say why there was no support from the video assistant.
Stegemann failed to spot the foul in the area in the 65th minute when Bochum’s Danilo Soares plowed into Karim Adeyemi from behind and brought the Dortmund forward down without touching the ball. Soares was already booked and could have been sent off with a second yellow card.
“We would probably go in front and you’re playing against 10 men, it’s a whole other game,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said.
But Stegemann allowed play to continue and received no indication from video assistant Robert Hartmann that he should do otherwise. The video assistant is there to inform a referee of any clear mistake, and video replays can then be used to recheck the incident. But Hartmann apparently felt the possible foul on Adeyemi wasn’t a clear mistake.
The federation disagreed.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.