Dani Wermelinger, head of the SFA's top referee department, comments on the latest accusations against Super League referees.
After St. Gallen took the lead against Basel on Sunday, FCB fans were delighted when Anton Kade supposedly equalized in the 72nd minute. However, as Bénie Traoré hit Jordi Quintilla's ankle with an open sole after his pass to the goalscorer, referee Lionel Tschudi consulted the video images. He rescinded the goal and showed Traoré the red card (the Ivorian was suspended for two matches on Monday).
Basel were still able to equalize while short-handed, but the frustration over the disallowed goal was still deep after the end of the game. Xherdan Shaqiri criticized the VAR drama on blue Sport: "We have to think about whether we have the best referees."
The 33-year-old also mentioned a scene in the match between Lugano and Lucerne when there was a foul clearly outside the penalty area. Nevertheless, the video referee did not intervene when the referee then whistled for a penalty.
Dani Wermelinger, head of the top referee department at the Swiss Football Association, explains to blue Sport why the number of controversial decisions in the league seems to have increased recently.
"The last two or three rounds were certainly not ideal"
"It's part of the business, if things aren't going well for a team or a team of referees, criticism will arise," says Wermelinger. "We know from the internal review that we're going through a less than ideal phase at the moment. The last two or three rounds - including the Cup - were certainly not ideal."
However, the 53-year-old from Aargau believes that you can't judge an entire year on that basis. It is important to work through this very transparently in order to get back to the level of performance that is fundamentally there.
"In comparison, we are also doing well internationally," says Wermelinger and speaks of a "good year". He explains that Swiss referee teams are represented in international competitions.
He is fundamentally positive about the idea that refereeing and VAR decisions should be communicated directly to spectators in future. "The topic is of course on our table. We need to take action in this area."
But of course, the technical equipment in the stadiums also needs to be improved in order to meet the standards. "It's important that we can take a step forward there for spectators at home or in the stadium. Accordingly, we are also taking our lead from the international associations," says Wermelinger.
