Curious referee change just before kick-off

Shortly before the Bundesliga game between TSG Hoffenheim and 1. FC Köln (3.30 p.m.) there was a strange referee change. Robin Braun, who was actually intended to be the fourth official, had to replace Benjamin Brand (Unterspiesheim), who was ill at short notice.

Brand had suffered an allergic reaction just before the game started. Braun unexpectedly got his first assignment as a referee in the Bundesliga.

The full-time lawyer has already played 20 games in the 2nd Bundesliga and also managed six games in the 3rd Bundesliga.

In the first round of the DFB Cup this season, Braun was allowed to referee TSG Hoffenheim. At that time, the Bundesliga team beat Rödinghausen 2-0 after extra time.

Referee Braun made his debut on the sidelines of a premier league in 2018 at the age of 22 – not in Germany, but in Luxembourg.