Image: GEPA pictures/ Walter Luger
There are several golden rules in (professional) life. One of them: Never think that you don’t have to learn anything more. The learning curve was steep this week. Especially when it comes to the level of knowledge about the grievances in domestic refereeing.
The cryptic message got through: there will only be a reaction if the outcry comes from all over Austria. So you have to position yourself more broadly in the future. Otherwise they try to duck their heads and sweep mistakes under the carpet. The other side of the coin: when the top, led by the referee boss Robert Sedlacek, downwards is silent, then the need for discussion at the base becomes all the greater. The content is extremely interesting, but not yet ready for printing.
Image: GEPA pictures/ Walter Luger
The trigger was the – actually banal – story about the inconsistencies in the (alleged) offside goal by LASK players Marin Lyubicic in the game against Austria. The offside line on TV was drawn completely wrong, the OÖN showed the grievance. The brief ÖFB justification: “The line was not drawn incorrectly, only a wrong image was sent to the TV rights holder.”
That was the end of the story. The request to send the correct pictures, which must be available because a decision was reversed, was not complied with. Also striking: In the weekly review of all controversial situations for the ex-FIFA referee Konrad Plautz is mainly responsible, the LASK game was not mentioned despite – or because of – the inconsistencies. In the referee scene, the cause was of course an issue. The official justification was consistently acknowledged with a smile, as was the fact that the responsible VAR man Christian-Petru Ciochirca officially did everything right, but was withdrawn at short notice from the Rapid vs. Ried cup game on Wednesday. Surely a coincidence.
The anger in Hartberg is also great, where the VAR, in this case Julian Weinberger, was also acquitted of any error in the official broadcast. It was said that he shouldn’t have intervened in a disputed penalty situation because the foul was outside the penalty area. You can argue about that, because the decisive foul contact happened in the penalty area. In any case, outside the penalty area it would have been a goal grab as the last man and red – the VAR should have intervened quickly. The same applies here: small club, little echo, history is lost.
The problem is that this system neither minimizes errors nor improves referees. It also casts doubt on those who see the VAR as the basis for fairer football. Again, the learning curve has moved.
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