Cologne vs. Darmstadt: penalty drama ensures outrage in the stadium!

Cologne vs. Darmstadt: penalty drama ensures outrage in the stadium!

On Saturday evening, March 15, 2025, an exciting top game took place in the 2nd Bundesliga. The 1st FC Köln received Darmstadt 98 in the RheinEnergieSadion. The game started at 8:30 p.m. and was transferred to Sport 1 in the payment channel Sky and Free TV.

After 47 seconds, Jan Thielmann brought the Cologne team 1-0 after Darmstadt's Sergio Lopez played a bad pass. But the game should take a turn that would trigger a lot of discussion in the course of the game.

criticism of the var and penalty decision

After about two minutes, video assistant intervened Pascal Müller and asked referees Florian Issue to check a decisive scene in the penalty area of ​​FC Köln. Dominique Heintz raised his hand in a header duel when the ball of Darmstadt's Fraser Hornby crashed into it. Referee Heft decided on penalty that Hornby transformed in the 25th minute to 1-1. This decision ensured bewilderness in the stadium.

Stadium spokesman Michael Trippel expressed his lack of understanding about the rule and the fans sang: "You break our sport." According to the current interpretation of the rules, however, the decision for the penalty was correct. Heintz was surprised because the ball came against his hand from a short distance. Such handball decisions are often controversial in football and depend heavily on the latest rule changes.

The regulation for handball

handball is one of the most common violations of the regular in football. According to the current regulations, there is a handball when a player deliberately touches the ball by hand or arm or thereby enlarges the body unnatural. Unthinkable handball has no longer been punishable since the 2021/2022 season. In recent years, the number of trading in the Bundesliga has shown an increase of 14 % in the 2015/2016 season to 23 % in the 2020/2021 season. This development is partly attributable to the technical advances and the use of the VAR.

The terms related to handball and the associated rules have often been changed in the past, which led to confusion. One example is the incident with Joel Schmied, who had a similar handball against Düsseldorf on February 23. Schmied expressed that it was a reflex, which is why he couldn't explain why he took his hands up.

The role of the var

The Video Assistant Referee, for short Var, is modern technical support for referees. The aim is to improve the accuracy of the decision. The VAR can intervene from several camera perspectives if certain situations are required in the game after checking. These include goal reviews, penalty decisions, direct red cards and players. The VAR was first used in the Bundesliga in 2017 and is intended to provide more justice in many game situations.

The technology behind the Var has increased the visibility of craft incidents. However, critics point out that some decisions are still clearly controversial and that the rule interpretation in the heat of the battle remains a major challenge. The current development in football shows how much the topic of handball and the use of video technology influence each other.