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About a week and a half ago, Manuel Gräfe protested on his own behalf.

The German top referee looks towards the end of his career as a referee, which annoys him.

The Berliner is 47 years old and at that age - this is stipulated by the German Football Association as the referee - they are no longer allowed to lead games in professional football.

The association's assumption is that something like fitness and responsiveness for men would no longer meet the demands of the fast-paced game in the Bundesliga at this stage of life.

For years there have been very different views on this, but the DFB has not let itself be softened.

The motto, also one motive of the regulation, is that the old must give way to the young.

A remarkable action took place in the Bundesliga this weekend: players and coaches took sides in an almost pleading appeal for Gräfe and his cause.

The game of SC Freiburg against 1899 (1: 1) had just been whistled by Graefe, he had brought the game back on the stage with confidence, when Freiburg defender Christian Günter took the floor.

"I would break a lance there"

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“Herr Gräfe,” he said, “is one of the best referees in Germany, if not the best.

You have to think about whether someone like that can be a referee a little longer.

He's fit, an outstanding line on the pitch.

I would break a lance and say: Please let him go on a little longer. "

This brought up the topic, and the discussion about the sense or nonsense of excluding a highly respected and apparently still quite fit and responsive man reopened.

And it was fired even more, also Freiburg coach Christian Streich jumped aside Gräfe.

He said: "Of course, as coaches and players, we would like it if the good and very good referees, who have a lot of experience, could whistle for as long as physically possible."

After this season, Gräfe is not the only one who has to pay tribute to the DFB statute.

Guido Winkmann and Markus Schmidt also have to stop because of this.

But Gräfe is the most prominent of the trio and, in the opinion of most clubs, one of the guild's most valued.

If they had to compile a ranking of the most competent referees, Gräfe and the also very experienced Deniz Aytekin (42) would probably be at the top.

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At “Sportschau.de” Gräfe recently pointed out that there are examples in other top leagues in Europe of how the performance principle is also successfully reflected in his older colleagues.

He suggested that “a more flexible regulation might make more sense.

This is already done in other countries ”.

In England, for example, "top referees like Mike Dean and Martin Atkinson, aged almost 53 and 50, respectively, would conduct most of the Premier League games."

Gräfe is considered an indomitable character

He is now hoping for a U-turn for the DFB, although that of course also includes a spicy note in his case. He has been directing Bundesliga matches since 2004. Gräfe is considered an indomitable character who likes to draw public attention to grievances. In 2003 he was instrumental in uncovering the referee scandal surrounding Robert Hoyzer, in August 2017 he caused a sensation and unrest in the ranks of the referees when he told his superiors Herbert Fandel and Hellmut Krug in a “Tagesspiegel” interview that referee selection was not transparent accused. In short: There are easier-to-care-for types in the ranks of the referees with less sense of mission. But also little better and more respected than him.

The "kicker" once lifted the curtain at a Bundesliga management conference. Lutz Michael Fröhlich is said to have also been involved in the digital conference. The DFB chief referee was therefore asked whether Graefe and Aytekin could not be used more often in the explosive season-end spurt. A question that should concern the association more than ever after the statements from Freiburg.