Four months after scandalous match: Bochum awarded victory at Union after lighter throwing
More than four months after the scandalous match, the Permanent Court of Arbitration upheld the proper verdicts. For Union, the decision is virtually meaningless – for Bochum, it may be vital to their survival.
The Bundesliga match between 1. FC Union Berlin and Bochum has been awarded a 2-0 victory to Bochum after a lighter was thrown at VfL goalkeeper Patrick Drewes. According to information from the German Press Agency, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled this more than four months after the scandalous match, which had actually ended 1-1.
The arbitration tribunal thus upheld the ruling of the Sports and Federal Court of the German Football Association. An official statement from the DFB is expected later today.
For bottom-placed Bochum, the verdict represents something of a glimmer of hope in the relegation battle. After the return match against Union Berlin on Sunday also ended 1-1, VfL Wolfsburg are now barely salvageable. Coach Dieter Hecking's team is currently four points behind the relegation zone. Should Bochum lose the showdown in Heidenheim on Friday, they would be relegated for the seventh time from the Bundesliga.
The Berlin team, on the other hand, has long since secured relegation. For them, the decision is meaningless from a sporting perspective. The Permanent Court of Arbitration is responsible for all disputes between a professional club and the German Football Association or the German Football League.
The party at the An der Alten Försterei stadium was interrupted for more than 25 minutes on December 14th in the 92nd minute after Bochum goalkeeper Drewes was hit by a lighter thrown from the Union block and had to leave the field.
The match was then restarted and ended by referee Martin Petersen without Drewes. Since Bochum had already exhausted its substitution quota, striker Philipp Hofmann briefly went into goal. Both teams simply passed the ball back and forth in a non-aggressive pact to end the match.
The DFB Sports Court initially ruled in January that Drewes had suffered a head injury from the lighter and that Bochum had been weakened. Therefore, abandoning the match would have been justified. The DFB Federal Court also rejected the Berlin team's appeal in February and upheld the initial ruling.
The Berlin court accused Drewes of more or less direct acting. "We have not found any evidence of any special acting performance by Mr. Drewes, or of a conspiracy or farce," countered sports court judge Stephan Oberholz.
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