Overview

• In Köln’s 2-1 loss to Stuttgart, referee Matthias Jöllenbeck awarded a penalty after VAR Günter Perl sent him to the monitor even though Ermedin Demirovic played on, shifting the match’s momentum.
• Köln coach Lukas Kwasniok said VAR makes football “more questionable, not fairer,” while sport director Thomas Kessler called Jöllenbeck “the poorest guy” and accused Perl of pressuring the decision.
• Kessler also questioned equal treatment across fixtures, as other clubs echoed frustration this weekend over red cards and non-calls in lower divisions, including Rot-Weiss Essen and Hansa Rostock.
• Demirovic said the contact was a “clear penalty if I fall” and admitted he “might have to learn” to go down, while Köln goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe accepted the decision after seeing replays.
• Separately, the DFB Schiri GmbH conceded an officiating error in Nürnberg vs. Hertha, saying a handball should have led to a penalty due to an “unnatural enlargement” by a raised arm.