There was a lot of VAR frustration at VfB Stuttgart after the 3-3 draw in Heidenheim. Not just because of the incident involving the supposed 2-1 by Ermedin Demirović after just over half an hour.
The striker had scored a goal, but the goal was disallowed due to a foul on the other side. Instead, a penalty was awarded to Heidenheim. In the 73rd minute, the VfB player was once again in the spotlight. For his headed goal, the VAR ruled that he was in an offside position.
But the Swabians saw things differently after the match. As reported by 'Bild', assistant coach David Krecidlo showed a screenshot on his phone in the catacombs, which was supposed to prove that the offside line drawn by the VAR was incorrect. "We received the information. We thought that another player was positioned deeper. That still hasn’t been clarified," Sebastian Hoeneß explained when asked by 'Bild'.
According to VfB, the correct line should have been drawn at Heidenheim’s Omar Traoré. The VAR, however, drew the line at Schimmer in the center of the penalty area. "I’ll work on not being offside, maybe lose a kilo, then my shoulder will be a bit thinner," Demirović commented wryly at first.
When he was then asked by media representatives about the possibly incorrect offside line, he became serious. "That would be outrageous, but of course we first have to check whether it was really the case. But if it wasn’t, then that would be madness," Demirović was quoted as saying by 'kicker'.
The VfB striker also made it clear in this context that he is not a fan of VAR: "The referee on the pitch picks up on things better than any computer or anyone sitting in Cologne drinking coffee and making decisions for the referees. I find that a bit weak. The referees should start taking matters into their own hands again."
He also hopes that a solution will be found soon. At the end of the conversation, Demirović also made it clear that he didn’t only see wrong decisions in Heidenheim. He just wanted to point out "that referees should be referees again – and if everything is correct in the end, then I’ll take it back."
Meanwhile, the DFB has also commented on the matter in response to a kicker inquiry: "The SAOT (English abbreviation for the semi-automated offside technology, editor’s note) correctly reported the offside position, and the VAR then (as always in such cases) checked the result again for plausibility." In addition, he looked at the perspective from the so-called reverse camera.
"This clearly shows that Traoré was not 'overlooked.' The image shows that he was not closer to the goal line than the second-to-last Heidenheim defender," the DFB added.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.