After threats: Referee Stegemann files a criminal complaint

Referee Sascha Stegemann has filed a criminal complaint because of threats after his wrong decision in the Bundesliga derby between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund.

“I have a lot of understanding for the emotions on Friday evening,” said Stegemann in the football talk Doppelpass sports1 and then reported that on Saturday “my family and I were threatened very specifically”. He then filed a complaint.

Previously, BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke had vehemently opposed the threats and disparagements on social media. “Answers of any kind, slander or threats, whether personal or anonymous via social media channels, we can – despite all the disappointment – not even tolerate in the beginning,” Watzke was quoted as saying by the club as chairman of the BVB management board.

The club discussed their view of things with the referee immediately after the game. He then assured “how sorry he is. That’s the end of the matter for us,” the message said.

Stegemann had already admitted several times on Saturday that the missed penalty after Bochum’s Danilo Soares fouled Karim Adeyemi was a mistake.