Referee expert Lutz Wagner balances his World Cup interim in a Sportschau interview – about long stoppage times, wrong VAR decisions and the first woman at the whistle.

Sports Show: Mr Wagner, has this been the best World Cup so far from a refereeing point of view?

Lutz Wagner: “There were some very good performances, but overall it could have been even better. But this is not surprising, because in the preliminary rounds of the World Cup, referees all over the world blow their whistles, often working with the respective video assistants. Let’s do it. For the first time. So sometimes there was a problem of coordination, sometimes too much interference, sometimes too little. If there are permanent teams in the knockout stage, I hope the quality will improve further.”

Despite VAR, how could there be mistakes like Ronaldo’s disallowed goal and any less controversial penalty against Ghana or the missed penalty for Canada after Belgium’s Axel Witsel was fouled?

“In the case of Witsel’s decision, there was also a sensible argument against the penalty, as the attacker was heading into Witsel’s path. In fact, both of Ronaldo’s decisions were wrong, as was a handball that Portugal was awarded a penalty against Uruguay. , which was clearly wrong, and problems for France against Tunisia – as I said, I’m expecting an improvement in the knockout stage.”

France lodged a protest as an equalizer against Tunisia was disallowed following VAR intervention after the final whistle. What are the chances of success?

“It’s going to be exciting. It’s like this: If the game really stops and the referee is still on the pitch, VAR intervention is still possible. Continued after the goal. If so, VAR intervention was wrong because, as I said, play had already resumed. But the referee quickly blew several whistles, which probably should have meant that the stoppage was extended – as opposed to when evaluating, now it It all depends on what kind of explanation he gives for these whistles.”

How satisfied were you with the German team of referees around Daniel Siebert in the duel between Australia and Tunisia?

“It was a great start for Daniel Siebert and his whole team. The fact that he is now playing Uruguay’s second group game against Ghana, which is very important for the game, is an honor and hopefully Our team can still go a long way. So far in this World Cup.”

Why did it take so long for France’s Stephanie Frappart to become the first woman to referee a World Cup game?

“In the past, there were not so many female referees who whistled at this absolute top level. Of course, before participating in the World Cup, everyone must have experience in international matches or the Champions League. But you can say: this A little more emphasis could have been put on the part of FIFA’s decision-makers, which could have come a long time ago.”

The most noticeable change in refereeing this World Cup is the vastly extended stoppage time. Do you think it makes sense, and can the Bundesliga now adapt?

“I am very practice-oriented: the infinity of injury time with a score of 7-0 for Spain against Costa Rica is not in the interest of football and the fans. But when it comes to the obvious delay, when three players are substituted Injuries are time and time is simply wasted – then a longer stoppage time, please. For the Bundesliga, I am counting on the learning effect, namely that wasting time is no longer worth it as the minutes end are added to.”

The offside graphic shown on the scoreboard is a great help to the fans in the stadium and on TV. Essential for the Bundesliga?

“If you can integrate the technology in a meaningful way – instantly! But I still see optimization potential there, because even a graphic like this shouldn’t take eight to ten minutes to appear.”

For how long should the referee – if FIFA instructs – continue this kind of fuss by explaining the rules to every goalkeeper before a penalty kick? Does anyone really think the Keepers still don’t know they need to put one foot on the line?

“I agree with you, that gets worse. Like going to the players before every corner and asking them not to pull their jerseys, otherwise there could be a penalty. You can do that as an experienced and good referee And shorten it and compress exactly once on each page – and then you follow the action.”

Source: sportschau.de