“Negligent, cowardly and completely wrong” – BVB attacks the referee
Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham and Emre Can (right) with referee Sascha Stegemann
Those: dpa/Federico Gambarini
Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 (1-1) draw in the emotionally-driven Revierderby at VfL Bochum had a loud aftermath. After the final whistle, BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl attacked referee Sascha Stegemann and the video assistant
EIt got loud in the stairwell in the main stand of the Ruhr Stadium. Half an hour after the final whistle of the hard-fought district derby between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund, Sebastian Kehl had to catch his breath. And so he got to where the journalists were waiting. Then the sports director of BVB raised serious allegations against referee Sascha Stegemann and video assistant Robert Hartmann.
“In the last few weeks we have always faced criticism, even after bitter defeats or when we gave away a win. We never looked for faults in others,” said Kehl, who struggled to regain his composure after the 1-1 (1-1). “But today the referee decided the game and cost us two points.”
Then the 43-year-old listed three scenes that he felt were crucial to the game. First there was a duel that preceded the earlier Bochum lead by Anthony Losilla (5th minute). In fact, BVB midfielder Emre Can was hit by VfL striker Philipp Hofmann during a header. “Anyone who has ever played football knows what happens when you’re in the air and you get a nudge,” said Kehl. Can couldn’t have headed more purposefully. It was a foul play. “He (the referee, ed.) has to look at that.” But Stegemann did not go into the review zone.
By far the biggest annoyance, however, was the foul by Bochum defender Danilo Soares on Dortmund striker Karim Adeyemi (65th) in the penalty area. Soares clearly fouled Adeymi by kicking his supporting leg. But there was no whistle. “That’s a clear penalty, almost everyone saw that,” Kehl complained, who showed no interest in choosing a moderate choice of words: “I think it’s cheeky if you don’t use the means that we have at our disposal these days – five Game days before the end when it comes to the absolute decision, to the championship.” He considers this to be “absolutely negligent, cowardly and completely wrong.”
Kehl must have said this to Stegemann personally, or in a comparable form. Because he had already spoken to the referee on the pitch and then in the referee’s cabin. It must have been very loud.
“Shameful, just bad”
The Dortmunders, who will lose the lead in the table if FC Bayern, who is expected to win at home on Sunday, will feel ratted out. Above all, the fact that Stegemann had not reconfirmed himself through a video check after the scene with Adeymi stunned her. This was “shameful, just bad,” said Kehl.
In fact, it remained unclear why Stegemann did not look at the scene with the foul on Adeyemi again. Hadn’t he received a tip from the Cologne basement where Robert Hartmann was on duty? Or was he too sure? The latter should not have been the case. Because when Kehl confronted Stegemann, he is said to have replied that he couldn’t say anything because he hadn’t seen the scene again – at least that’s what Kehl claimed. The 38-year-old referee from Niederkassel did not comment publicly on Friday evening.
Because there was a scene in Bochum’s penalty area in injury time, when Dortmund pushed massively on the second goal, albeit a questionable one, Kehl finally had enough. Stegemann went unpunished for a handball by Erhan Masovic. However, the VfL defender got the ball on his arm, with which he wanted to support himself on the ground. In this respect – in contrast to the two previous fouls – it was not necessarily punishable.
“All in all, there were too many wrong decisions in such an important game,” said Kehl. He also admitted that BVB “didn’t play that well in the second half either.” But Dortmund’s anger at the referee prevailed.