Elversberg coach Vincent Wagner cleared to be on touchline against Bayern Munich
The German Football Association's (DFB) sporting tribunal has upheld Elversberg’s renewed appeal against head coach Vincent Wagner’s suspension following the red card he received for two bookable offences in the Bundesliga match at Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend.
Elversberg will have their head coach on the touchline after all for what is arguably the biggest league game in the club’s history, with Vincent Wagner now free to lead the promoted side in Sunday’s home clash with Bayern Munich.
Wagner was initially booked in the 45th minute of Elversberg’s Bundesliga game at Gladbach for entering the pitch without permission last weekend.
Immediately after the half-time whistle, referee Martin Petersen showed him a second yellow card for unsporting behaviour, resulting in his dismissal from the technical area. That normally carries an automatic one-match league suspension.
Wagner appealed the suspension twice, with the DFB issuing its final and binding ruling on Friday.
The association's sports tribunal found that the referee had made a clear error within the meaning of Section 11 No. 3 of the DFB Legal and Procedural Regulations. The automatic suspension resulting from Wagner’s dismissal for a second bookable offence has therefore been overturned.
Explaining the decision, Stephan Oberholz, chairman of the DFB sports tribunal, said: “During the oral hearing, referee Petersen stated for the first time that his perception of the incident had been incorrect and that he had misjudged the situation. We therefore had to determine whether that error was an obvious one.
“Having reviewed new footage from the scouting feed, we are convinced that coach Wagner clearly entered the pitch solely to communicate with his players and was not moving towards the referee. Against that background, an exception could be made and the automatic suspension lifted.”
