With this verdict, the season for Clemens Fandrich from the second division club FC Erzgebirge Aue would already be over: The sports court of the German Football Association regards it as proven that the midfielder 's assistant referee Roman Potemkin "spat on the right eye" when he beat Ingolstadt and banned Fandrich for seven months on Thursday.
The decision can be appealed to the DFB Federal Court within a week, which the club immediately announced.
“Unfortunately, that was a sobering experience. The sports court assumes an assault and has imposed a seven-month suspension, where the range of punishment is between six months and two years. I do not agree with the result in any way, ”said Aues board member and lawyer Kay Werner. It is an absolutely unacceptable sentence and one will "exhaust the legal remedies available to us". The lawyer does not see Fandrich's behavior as assault, but as unsportsmanlike behavior, which would significantly reduce the sentence.
Fandrich vehemently denied having deliberately spat on the assistant.
The midfielder had already missed the 1-1 draw in Hanover, and Werner had announced on “Tag24”: “If Clemens Fandrich has served a sentence above Hanover, we will consider going to the DFB Federal Court or, if necessary, an ordinary court to pull. ”Werner immediately announced that he would go to the federal court on Thursday.
"Higher penalty conceivable"
For the sports court, however, the matter was clear. “The court had no doubts about the depiction of assistant referee Roman Potemkin, who testified that the player spat in his right eye in the 89th minute of the second division game against FC Ingolstadt on October 22, 2021, which Fandrich himself denies “, It said in a message from the DFB. The sequence of movements in the scene supports the portrayal of Potemkin. Really revealing TV pictures of the scene were at least not available to the public.
Hans E. Lorenz, chairman of the sports court, emphasized that the punishment against the Auer was lenient. “When assessing the suspension, the court took into account his faultless behavior in twelve years of professional football in favor of the player Fandrich. On the other hand, spitting in the assistant referee's face is such a serious process that a higher penalty would have been conceivable, ”said Lorenz.
If the ban against Fandrich comes into force, it should be one of the highest in the history of the German football leagues.
Lewan Kobiaschwili from Hertha BSC was banned for seven and a half months after the relegation game at Fortuna Düsseldorf in May 2012 because of a punch against referee Wolfgang Stark.
Timo Konietzka from 1860 Munich 1966 had to watch for half a year. He is said to have pushed referee Max Spinnler in the chest and kicked the shin in the game against Dortmund.
There were no conclusive TV pictures at the time.