The hand penalty decision for VfL Bochum in the cup game against Borussia Dortmund was highly controversial. Referee Tobias Stieler watched the scene for a long time, but made a decision after the game.
For referee Tobias Stieler it is probably quite good that his controversial hand penalty decision in the cup game between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund had no influence on the outcome of the game. In the end, the penalty kick was of no use to Bochum. They lost the round of 16 against BVB 1:2. The penalty converted by Kevin Stöger only provided the interim compensation.
After the game, Stieler was able to answer critical questions in a relaxed manner and defend his decision. The arm of Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who was shot at the edge of the penalty area from a few meters, was not “very tight” on the body, “but slightly angled,” said Stieler on ARD and Sport1. “For me it was just enough to decide a penalty.”
“On the pitch it was never an issue whether it was a handball,” said Stieler, the question was whether the handball was inside or outside the Dortmund penalty area. Since this could not be clarified beyond doubt from his point of view, the first field decision remained: hand penalty. The referee took his time assessing the scene during the game and watched the TV images from the sidelines himself.
Video referee has stomach ache with decision
However, Stieler also admitted that video referee Tobias Welz had “stomach ache with the decision”. “Of course it is very clear: This is not the mother of all penalties.” He can understand well “if someone has a different view of this scene.” Like Dortmund’s sports director Sebastian Kehl, who said on ZDF about the controversial scene with Bynoe-Gittens: “The way he turns away and holds his arm, it’s not a penalty for me.”
BVB trainer Edin Terzic criticized in particular that Bochum’s Saidy Janko’s push against Bynoe-Gittens was not punished immediately before the hand situation arose. “What bothers me the most is that there is a clear foul on Bynoe-Gittens before this scene even happens,” Terzic complained. “The referee is a meter away and has a clear view.”
Bochum’s coach is surprised at the long decision-making phase
Bochum’s coach Thomas Letsch was surprised at the length of the decision-making process: “I have to be honest: I don’t quite understand why it’s taking so long.” Because “hand isn’t that complicated after all.” He too would have decided on a hand penalty, “but I have no referee training.”
Source: Stern
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