DFormer national player Tabea Kemme sharply criticized Mönchengladbach footballer Marcus Thuram for his swallow in the Bundesliga game against SC Freiburg. “That’s something I like to call ‘falling fruit’. The rotten apple falls from the tree for no reason,” said the 31-year-old on the “ran Bundesliga Webshow”: “I don’t want to see characters like that on the pitch. It’s not the first time this has happened to him.”
If she had done such an action during her active time, it would have been incredibly uncomfortable for her. “Oh my god, I would be so embarrassed. I would be so ashamed” Thuram had dropped in the penalty area against Freiburg on Saturday after a tackle without a foul and demanded a penalty. The penalty kick was initially given by referee Benjamin Brand, but was withdrawn after studying the video images.
Former referee: Subsequent bans on swallows
Kemme advocated penalizing swallows with a time penalty. “You know that from other sports like handball. Being outnumbered in the game might hurt even more than being suspended in the next game,” said the 2016 Olympic champion.
Kemme also has a clear opinion in the case of Thuram’s teammate Ramy Bensebaini, who insulted the referee team in French after his yellow-red card against SC. “I think you can also work with community hours here,” said the former defender. “I notice it again and again when we visit schools, which educational work we have to do.” In the case of unsportsmanlike behavior like that of Bensebaini, “the players could get social hours and do this educational work with the youth”.
Former Bundesliga referee Babak Rafati recently called for a more intensive confrontation with so-called swallows in the penalty area in view of the incidents in the Gladbach game. “In retrospect, it would make sense if the sports court would deal with and evaluate such a case again,” Rafati told the “Sportbuzzer”. Dietmar Hamann had previously also sharply criticized Thuram. “For me, Thuram should be closed. For me it’s a shame for football,” said the Sky expert.
Referee Brand later realized that a yellow card would have been appropriate. This was confirmed by his colleague Sascha Stegemann on Sunday in the Sport1 program “Doppelpass” after a conversation with his colleague. The referee could not have imposed a harsher punishment. “The rules only provide for a yellow card. It is unsportsmanlike, not gross unsportsmanlike,” explained Stegemann. Rafati recommended that players be subsequently banned for such offenses. The 52-year-old found that a ban had an educational effect.
Gladbach coach Daniel Farke announced that he wanted to talk to Thuram. “We talked about it in preparation at the beginning of the season because I had the feeling that Marcus tended to fall too easily. I don’t think that’s appropriate,” said the coach.
In the case of Bensebaini, meanwhile, there will be an aftermath. The DFB announced on Sunday that the control committee would investigate. Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann was recently fined 50,000 euros for his statements about referees (“softened pack”).