Overview
- The DFB said the semi-automated offside system drew its line on the wrong defender at St. Pauli, triggering a manual VAR check that upheld Mönchengladbach’s opening goal.
- The breakdown was the third at the Millerntor this season, and club president Oke Göttlich publicly questioned ongoing payments for VAR technology.
- TV analyst Dietmar Hamann warned of competition distortion from repeated outages, while officiating bodies continue to probe the technical root causes.
- Ex-referees Markus Merk and Urs Meier argued that dependence on VAR has weakened on-field decision-making and called for stronger referee training.
- After high-profile, uncorrected decisions in the DFB-Pokal’s second round, ZDF expert Thorsten Kinhöfer urged introducing VAR earlier in the cup, as fresh controversies in Berlin and Heidenheim further inflamed criticism.