Refereeing error casts pall over Bundesliga race, no help from VAR

A refereeing error has became the focus of attention in the Bundesliga after it helped Bayern Munich regain the lead from Borussia Dortmund with four rounds of the league remainingThe video assistant referee didnt intervene to award a penalty in Dortmunds game on Friday as the team was held to a 11 draw with Bochum on Friday night a result that could have a major impact on the title raceAlso Read Sheikh Jassim Ratcliffe make final bids for Manchester UnitedThe German soccer federation acknowledged Saturday that referee Sascha Stegemann should have given the penalty without the need for support from the video assistant However it did not say why there was no support from the video assistantStegemann failed to spot the foul in the area in the 65th minute when Bochums Danilo Soares plowed into Karim Adeyemi from behind and brought the Dortmund forward down without touching the ball Soares was already booked and could have been sent off with a second yellow cardWe would probably go in front and youre playing against 10 men its a whole other game Dortmund coach Edin Terzic saidBut Stegemann allowed play to continue and received no indication from video assistant Robert Hartmann that he should do otherwise The video assistant is there to inform a referee of any clear mistake and video replays can then be used to recheck the incident But Hartmann apparently felt the possible foul on Adeyemi wasnt a clear mistakeThe federation disagreedIts a foul and therefore a penalty as the TV pictures also show The expectation has to remain that such events are decided correctly by the referee on the field the federation saidThe decision was one of three that Dortmund complained about as it slipped to a draw that allowed Bayern to retake the lead on SundayStegemann who acknowledged several mistakes among the match officials and said he could understand Dortmunds anger told broadcaster Sport1 that threats have been made against him and his family It led him to file a criminal complaint and seek temporary protection measuresThe referee said he is thinking about whether a break makes sense or whether its better to continue straightawayDortmund chief executive HansJoachim Watzke condemned those threats on SundayDear soccer fans of course we are all still very disappointed with how Friday night went Watzke said in a statement published on the club website We discussed our point of view with the referee immediately after the game and he assured us then how sorry he was With that the matter is closed for usThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever