Bundesliga official Dr. Robin Braun makes history with first in-stadium refereeing clarifcation | OneFootball

It took until the last of the five matches selected for this particular pilot program, but Bundesliga history was finally made on Sunday evening. Match official Dr. Robin Braun became the first Bundesliga referee to provide an in-stadium clarification to the crowd in the final fixture on the 2024/25 campaign’s 20th matchday. Braun communicated a decision via a PA-linked microphone in Sunday’s Leverkusen-Hoffenheim game at the BayArena.

In the 22nd minute, Hoffenheim’s Dennis Geiger deflected a pass from Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka to Nathan Tella, who was brought down by TSG defender David Jurasek. Braun initially pointed to the spot. VAR assistant Robert Schröder then radioed in from DFB headquarters in Köln. Tella was clearly offside when Xhaka passed. Geiger’s deflection – according to the rulebook – didn’t negate this.

After a two-minute review, Braun turned on his microphone and said:

“The penalty kick has been reviewed. The replay confirms that there was an offside position. Therefore, the decision is: no penalty kick. Offside.”

The PA-microphone link functioned smoothly. Interestingly, Braun is currently the most inexperienced member of the German FA’s top flight refereeing pool. The junior member of the DFB officiating squad helped German football reach this milestone in just his third Bundesliga match.

GGFN | Peter Weis