There is an old rule in football: “The best referee is the one nobody talks about.” According to this verdict, Manuel Gräfe is a pretty bad referee right now. Because in an interview in Time magazine is making Graefe quite a talking point at the moment. He accuses the German Football Association (DFB) of “age discrimination”. At 47, Gräfe was forced to retire with his two colleagues Guido Winkmann and Markus Schmidt – according to a special DFB rule that does not exist abroad and although half the league campaigned for Gräfe and asked for a grace period. The players and coaches spoke unusually warmly about the referee, who otherwise often have to listen to improper things from the bench and the stands, where every second person wants to know where they have parked their car.
Well, all good words are of no use. The referee boss Lutz Michael Fröhlich did not want to risk jealousy among the referees and did not want to make an exception for the popular Berliner. Just don’t risk a “Lex Gräfe”, that seemed to be the calculation. That could go pretty wrong. Because that’s exactly what the referee wants to force on the DFB. Gräfe has sued for age discrimination, the DFB confirmed receipt of the complaint on Thursday evening. That looks stupid again for the association, which otherwise likes to see itself as a champion against racism and discrimination. “Unfortunately, arguments do not change anything in this association, only the tax investigators or judges,” is how Graefe sums up his experience with the DFB.
But he no longer wants to whistle himself, even if his lawsuit is successful, Gräfe prefers to see himself as a champion for the youth. And he would also like to assert the lost financial claims; Referees of his caliber earn a six-figure sum a year.
Manuel Gräfe says of himself that he whistles more quietly than other referees. But for that he gave the DFB and the guild quite a kick-off, and presented a proper list of deficiencies: blatant loss of level for the men in black, the German refereeing was no longer first class in international comparison. At the DFB it is not always about performance, paragraphs are more important than quality, who is promoted and who is left behind, that is difficult to understand. He says of his former colleague Felix Zwayer: “Anyone who has ever accepted money and kept Hoyzer’s manipulation secret for half a year shouldn’t whistle in professional football.” At the time, Graefe was instrumental in uncovering the Hoyzer affair.
After all, the age limit for Gräfe has a good one after all. “At least I am spared having to deal with these issues.”