Berlin (dpa)
German referee Deniz Aitken explained why he showed the red card to Bo Svensson, coach of the German soccer team Mainz, during the cup match against Bayern Munich.
The German referee said he and his assistants were insulted. Aitken said after the match, which ended in a 4-0 victory for Bayern Munich: “He asked out loud if we were blind. This is unacceptable, our exasperated tolerance. We will not allow ourselves to be insulted, this is the maximum for me.
“We are not the nation’s trash cans,” he stressed. Svensson was shown the red card and had to get off the bench in the 81st minute.
According to Aitken, they spoke after the meeting and that “everything was fine, but at that moment things were too much.” Aitken explained that the insult, which was directed at fourth official Martin Petersen, was unacceptable and that he did not want to hear such statements on the field. Svensson confirmed that he had apologized to the referee and that “at some point, he asked the fourth referee if he was blind.”
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