Bundesliga coaches Baumgart and Reis for challenge model in disputed referee decisions

The Bundesliga coaches Steffen Baumgart and Thomas Reis have spoken out in favor of a challenge system in connection with video evidence in football.

“In such cases, in which obviously wrong decisions are made, coaches should be given this opportunity,” Baumgart, coach of 1. FC Köln, told kicker: “Once per half would make sense.”

Reis, Baumgart’s Schalke colleague, was also open to requesting a review of game situations as a coach. This “could be a possibility,” Reis said. It must be about “optimizing processes”.

A blatant wrong decision by referee Sascha Stegemann in the match between championship contenders Borussia Dortmund and VfL Bochum (1-1) on Friday gave new impetus to the discussion. Bochum defender Danilo Soares clearly fouled national player Karim Adeyemi in the penalty area, which Stegemann later admitted.

However, the referee had judged this differently live and was neither corrected by the video assistant nor asked to watch the scene again from the sidelines.