Christopher Neundorf / EPA
An act of sabotage in a 2. Bundesliga game: “Switch off the VAR”, read shortly afterwards among the Preußen Münster fans.
Game held this Sunday, in the 2. Bundesliga, between Prussia Münster e Hertha Berlin. The team from the capital of Germany won 2-1.
But this duel in the second division of football in Germany was marked by a moment that involved the referee, the OUR and a supporter.
It happened very close to half-time: referee Felix Bickel wanted to check if there was a penalty, if there was a foul by Niko Kouli (Preußen Münster) on Michaël Cuisance (Hertha Berlin).
But when he arrived at the VAR booth, the referee saw a black monitor, completely black. There were no images.
The newspaper said that it was a adept (masked) from the Preußen Münster fans who turned off the monitor, when he ripped out a cable.
The Arbitration Council of the German Football Federation has already confirmed, to the SID news agency, that this is exactly what happened.
In fact, the home club itself admitted the gesture of sabotage. “A masked supporter of organized cheerleaders invaded the field illegally and turned off the technical equipment”, writes Preußen Münster in .
The club regrets the incident and guarantees that it will do everything possible to bring the person responsible to justice; and has already adopted immediate measures to avoid similar scenarios in the future.
It was a planned action: a few minutes later, a Tarja in the Prussian Münster valley sector, where “Turn off VAR”.
Referee Felix Bickel waited for a minute for the device to restart. It didn’t restart. The video referee, Katrin Rafalski, decided for her, in Cologne – and it was indeed a penalty, which resulted in a goal for Hertha Berlin.
