Borussia Dortmund in crisis
Debate about VAR: Referee Drees defends red card against Hummels
In the game against RB Leipzig, Dortmund’s Mats Hummels was sent off with a red card early on. The intervention of the video assistant is controversial.
Former referee Jochen Drees defended the intervention of the video assistant in the debate over the red card for Mats Hummels in Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga game against RB Leipzig. In terms of rules, the decisive factor is where the first contact occurred that caused the attacker to fall, said the 53-year-old responsible for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) area. “This was clearly the case in the present duel between Hummels and Openda shortly before the penalty area, so that the correct decision was a direct free kick and a red card because an obvious goal chance was thwarted,” Drees told “Kicker” (Monday).
Criticism from ex-referee Bernd Heynemann
Criticism of the VAR intervention, however, came from former FIFA referee Bernd Heynemann. “Such bean-counting with a magnifying glass is damaging to football,” said the Magdeburger in his column for the “Kicker”. For him, Jablonski’s decision was understandable. Then the scene in the Cologne basement was dissected millimeter by millimeter and the foul was moved out of the penalty area, although even the slow motion was not clear, said the 69-year-old. “In such cases, the field decision should definitely stand and the decision-making power should not be claimed by the cellar,” said Heynemann.