Uproar in the German 3rd League: Club boss ‘physically attacks’ referee

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After the match in the 3rd division in Germany between SV Sandhausen and SSV Ulm (1:2), there were bad scenes on Friday evening. Referee Florian Exner and assistant Jonah Besong were physically attacked by SVS club chairman Jürgen Machmeier. The German Football Association (DFB) announced this and condemned the incident in the strongest terms.

“It is bad enough that referees are repeatedly insulted, slandered, threatened and attacked by spectators. But when even a club president physically attacks the referee and his assistant, a new dimension is reached,” said referee boss Lutz-Michael Fröhlich on Sunday.

“Completely unacceptable”

After the final whistle of the match on Friday evening, Machmeier pushed the referee “with his chest back” on the way to the dressing room, the DFB writes on its homepage. Assistant Besong also received “a push in the upper body” from the club chairman. Sandhausen’s sports director Matthias Imhof also “verbally attacked” the referee after the match, for which he received a red card.

The incident is “completely unacceptable,” Fröhlich said. “A president has a clear role model function, for football as a whole and in particular for fair and respectful treatment of referees in this sport.”

SVS sports director Imhof also showed a lack of respect for the referee with his behavior after the match. “Such excesses cause enormous damage to the image of football,” Fröhlich said.

The referee’s tactics were criticized

Relegated from the second division, Sandhausen played with one man less for a long time after a yellow-red card against Felix Göttlicher in the 9th minute (repeated foul play). Machmeier then blames the referee team for the fourth defeat of the season.

“But what the referee did here today was cross a line. The match was already decided in advance, that’s as far as I go. There was no tact when Felix Göttlicher was sent off. The referee clearly decided the match for me,” said Machmeier.

Imhof also clearly criticized the referee. “Today the match is entirely up to the referee, he decided the match. We started the match very well, but the referee’s performance was downright poor.” (AFP)

Source : Blick