Many fans and experts left referees Tobias Reichel with his decisions at the weekend in Sinsheim irritated. Since it was not the first time that Reichel made questionable decisions, it must finally be considered what can be improved in the future. And an old idea comes back into the game!
“I can no longer hear the madman-is-human story,” said the Austrian coach Dietmar Kühbauer some time ago after a game of his club and tried to swallow his frustration about a referee’s decision again. But then he said another, crucial sentence: “The players prepare for them, they work hard, it’s about a lot of money.” And with that, the former Austrian international indirectly addressed something that has been discussing not only in our neighboring country for many years, but also here in Germany, but has not yet been implemented: the professional resort.
Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck lives in Freiburg and is trauma in Freiburg and is trauma. Sven Jablonski otherwise works in the Bremen branch of a large bank. And Tobias Reichel, who has been officially a member of the Bundesliga squad since 2021, comes from marketing – you can read everywhere if you are interested in the main professions of our referees. But also for the current coach of Borussia Dortmund, Niko Kovac, it is an absurdity that the referee in addition to their job on the green lawn will pursue another acquisition: “At the level where so much money is implemented and it is about small things and details, I expect that there is also a pure professional referee in Germany. They should be able to earn their support with it.”
At the latest since the weekend again in various places in the first and second league, numerous decisions of the referees were clearly questioned, a revival of the discussion about professionalization of the referee’s event seems to be necessary. Above all, the questionable penalty decisions by Tobias Reichel in the game between TSG Hoffenheim and FC Augsburg left fans like experts at the weekend at a loss and frustrated. Just like Sky expert Dietmar Hamann thought many about the penalty imposed against Augsburg: “Giving such a penalty is a cheek. This is Bundesliga, we cannot allow that. I was and am still stunned.”
The last “amateurs” of the league
But not only the strange decision by Tobias Reichel irritated, nor does not switch on the Var in this scene raise questions. After all, it was not the first time that Reichel decided on a supposed handball on a penalty. Already in the DFB Cup quarter-finals between Leipzig and Wolfsburg, the referee had given a disputed penalty. Both times, these were undoubtedly decisions with great importance and scope. And that’s exactly why it is all the more worthy of discussion. In both situations, one may quite ask whether they would not have been avoidable with more intensive training and more clearly conveyed requirements.
At the time when VfL Wolfsburg coach, Kovac once said: “I recently hit a referee team at the airport. There one told me that he was still doing his job around 20 hours a week.” At that time, Kovac already demanded that the referees had to be released from their second work in order to be able to “focus on football every day”. A demand that ex-referee Urs Meier clearly underlines: “I’ve been saying for a long time that you have to professionalize the referee. It is not that we still have amateurs in the Bundesliga.” And with that, Meier hits the crucial point.
What follows honest sentences?
Because while the professionals can only take care of their main acquisition of the footballer, the referees mostly pursue another activity during the week. Urs Meier has therefore been demanding for a long time: “We would actually need the 19th team, that should be the referees. That means we should have a coach, a co-trainer. We would have to have fitness trainers and physiotherapists. We have to have a psychologist, i.e. like a professional team. And they also have to come together and train together.”
“The decision of the referee on a penalty is not correct for us,” said Alex Feuerherdt, Head of Communication and Media Work by DFB Schiri GmbH, after the game of TSG Hoffenheim against Augsburg on Saturday at Sky. An honest sentence. But the question that all football fans are interested is: What follows from this alternative knowledge? And how can you actively avoid that Tobias Reichel will not make a lonely decision in the penalty area in the penalty area again in the future?
Which sentence by Didi Hamann all fans immediately sign
Niko Kovac has clear ideas about the positive effect the introduction of the professional resort: “Everyone has their own analysts. This is controlled by the association. During the week you can discuss the scenes from the match day or from other leagues and thus raise everyone at a different level. The problem that I currently see: There are too many differences in the arbitrators.” And it was precisely this problem that could probably be influenced if all referees were brought to a common line during the week – in their “free” time, which they could now use as a professional setting for further professionalization of their job on the green lawn.
Incidentally, the merit of the referees is already at a level that should be enough to deny a livelihood. At the turn of the year, Tobias Reichel already had 138,400 euros (including 68,000 basic salary) on the pay slip at the turn of the year. And if one would think again in the course of the introduction of the professional setting by an increase in the age limit (currently at the age of 47), the idea no longer seems so absurd. After all, something has to be done. Because the sentence of Didi Hamann (“This is Bundesliga, we cannot allow that”) would certainly sign 99 percent of all football fans immediately!
