Union Berlin head coach rails at millimeter-tight offside decision: “Someone’s been huffing paint.” | OneFootball

Union Berlin head coach Steffen Baumgart has had it with the state of offside decisions in the Bundesliga. Baumgart’s Köpenicker may have done well to bring the historic winning streak of Bayern Munich to an end with a 2-2 home draw on Saturday, but Union could have potentially taken all three points off the German giants. 

Union striker Ilyas Ansah headed home the supposed 1-0 in the 9th-minute off a Leopold Querfeld corner. After a lengthy VAR review, however, the goal was disallowed due to Ansah being ruled marginally offside. The word “marginally” remains especially important in this case. The “naked eye” couldn’t discern the five millimeters or so Ansah was ahead of his marker. 

Offside decisions in the Bundesliga remain a hot topic. It seems as if nothing is going right on either side of the debate. Two incorrectly allowed offside goals in second round of the Pokal (in which VAR is not in use) benefitted Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

Last weekend, St. Pauli President Oke Göttlich demanded clubs be refunded the money the DFL takes from them for the use of semi-automated offside computer-drawn lines after the technology failed twice during his side’s home match.

“The first goal is a goal,” Baumgart railed during his post-match interview with Sky Germany. “To chalk it off for being five millimeters offside, someone has been huffing paint. I’ll draw that line 27 times for you.”

Baumgart’s frustration stemmed from the fact that such tight decisions – those in which the naked eye cannot tell if a player is offside – aren’t always reviewed. Sometimes, in other locales, the naked eye is simply given the benefit of the doubt. Baumgart called for consistency. 

“One doesn’t draw that line in Dresden or Bremen, but here we do,” Baumgart went on to say. “We’re talking about millimeters. There is no reliable rule. We’re not talking about a foot in front, a heel in front, a shoulder in front, but rather a millimeter decision.“

GGFN | Peter Weis