Oral Arguments in disputed Union Berlin-Bochum match set for February | OneFootball

Oral arguments in the case of a disputed matchday 14 Bundesliga fixture between FC Union Berlin and Bochum are now officially set for February 28. On Thursday, the German FA officially accepted the appeal of Union and agreed to hear the appellant’s case at 12:30 on the DFB campus in Frankfurt. Two additional Bundesliga clubs, Holstein Kiel and St. Pauli, joined Union in filing the appeal.

The match at issue took place on 14 December 2024. Match official Martin Petersen suspended play at the beginning of second half injury time after Bochum keeper Patrick Drewes was struck in the back of the head by a flare thrown by a spectator at Berlin’s Stadion An der Alten Försterei. At the time, the two teams were level at a 1-1 scoreline.

A 25 minute-delay ensured. Drewes found himself unable to continue and his Bochum teammates did not wish to finish the match. Petersen acknowledged the Bochum protest, yet ordered the match completed anyway. VfL striker Philipp Hofmann donned the keeper tricot and four more minutes were played. The matched ended in a 1-1 draw.

Immediately after the full-time whistle, Bochum managing director Ilja Känzig announced that his club would petition the German FA for all three points since Bochum’s ability to compete sportingly had been compromised. On January 9, DFB sports court chairman Stephan Oberholz awarded Bochum all three points via a 3-0 victory.

The initial decision immediately sparked controversy among multiple Bundesliga clubs and the German footballing public. The fact that three points were awarded “am grünen Tisch” (a German phrase that translates to “bureaucratically”) smacked of cheating in this case as the match was practically at full time.

Moreover, a club involved in the relegation race picking up points bureaucratically also constituted an unfair advantage to other teams looking to avoid the drop. It was for this reason that Kiel and St. Pauli joined Union in appealing Oberholz’s decision.

Paragraph 26, line two of the DFB’s legal and procedural regulations allowed for Kiel and St. Pauli to file alongside Union provided that the parties concerned can demonstrate a “direct legitimate interest in the decision”.

The DFB Federal Court will also decide at its meeting whether the parties are directly affected, then issue a separate ruling on the 2-0 victory for Bochum.

GGFN | Peter Weis