Overview
- High-profile misses in the second round, including Luis Díaz’s offside equaliser for Bayern at Köln, reignited calls to change DFB-Pokal officiating protocols.
- Competition rules currently introduce video review only from the round of 16, leaving the first two rounds without VAR support.
- Drees indicates VAR could be implemented earlier on a case-by-case basis if staffing and stadium infrastructure pass inspection, yet no decision has been made.
- A reported cost model puts core infrastructure at roughly €11 million plus about €1 million in personnel, equating to around €20,000 per top-flight match, with funding for non-DFL hosts unresolved and many lower-league venues under-equipped.
- Stakeholders split: Dietmar Hamann and Lothar Matthäus urge uniform use across the cup, while ex-referee Markus Merk argues the priority should be raising on-field refereeing standards and warns partial rollout could distort competition.