BVB sports director Kehl counts referee Stegemann

Sebastian Kehl talks himself into a rage after BVB’s 1-1 draw against Bochum. At the center of the criticism: referee Sascha Stegemann. The sports director makes harsh allegations.

3 mins reading time

2023-04-28 23:51:35

Sebastian Kehl (43) is one of those football officials who choose their words very consciously and adopt an analytical tone. After Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw at VfL Bochum, the sports director made harsh accusations against referee Sascha Stegemann.

BVB sports director Kehl is sharply critical

Kehl emphasized that they had been self-critical in the past few weeks and never looked elsewhere for mistakes. “Today,” explained the 43-year-old and came to the aber, “today the referee decided the game for me.” He rated the referee’s performance as “simply bad. Things didn’t go right today.” He made this clear on three points:

1.) Before the first goal, Kehl had seen a foul by Philipp Hofmann on Borussia Dortmund’s Emre Can. “He pushes him up in the air and the way Emre falls is a foul, the referee must at least look at that afterwards.” The controversial scene before Bochum’s 1-0 (5th) could possibly be discussed still discussed with different results. That changed.

2.) When Danilo Soares fouled Karim Adeyemi (65th), Kehl was not the only one who saw “a clear penalty”. The sports director of Borussia Dortmund explained: “We saw it from different perspectives and I think it’s cheeky, with the means we have at our disposal, five games before the end, when it comes to the absolute decision, the German championship , not to watch the scene again in this situation, I consider that to be absolutely negligent, cowardly and completely wrong. We are incredibly upset and made our displeasure clear. In a way that also belongs there.” He “really can’t understand it at all. That’s why, I have to say, this referee decided the game and cost us two points.” Instead of a penalty for BVB and yellow-red against Soares, Stegemann allowed the game to continue.

3.) The third scene, a handball by Erhan Masovic in the penalty area in the 90th minute, also went unpunished. There have already been penalties for situations like this, but the discretion of the referees keeps causing different interpretations. It remained unclear in Bochum how the communication between Stegemann and the video assistant referee in the Cologne basement worked or didn’t work. Stegemann did not use the review area on the sidelines for any of the controversial scenes.

BVB criticism of referee Stegemann

Once in a rage, Kehl even continued with his voice getting louder. “All in all, there were too many wrong decisions by a referee in such an important game. It was clear it was going to be emotional. We didn’t play as well in the second half as we did in the first. But as a referee today, with the tools available, I have to look at the contentious scenes. And if there is no signal from outside, I still have to ask: Am I 100 percent correct, or is that something worth discussing? I think it’s negligent, I find it shameful that you don’t take the tools in a situation like that.”

This sharp referee’s scolding will not change anything in the result. The draw in Bochum should set Borussia Dortmund back in the title race in the Bundesliga. Competitor FC Bayern Munich can overtake BVB again on Sunday with a win against Hertha BSC.