While FC schalke 04 buried the decision not to suspend matip for a match, the 1. FC koln harshly criticizes german soccer association (DFB) over lukas podolski’s suspension. "The rights of professionals have been bose violated with the podolski ruling – a catastrophe for german soccer," FC coach stale solbakken scolded in koln. The DFB sports court responsible for the verdict got to feel the full wrath of the norwegian: "this committee is dead, it’s finished."
Earlier, national player podolski had also taken the UEFA ruling on matip as an occasion to renew his criticism of the DFB. "I already spoke last week of an injustice. Now I’ve been confirmed once again by this verdict," podolski complained in the "express.
In the similar case of FC pro podolski, the DFB sports court had ruled differently than UEFA in the case of matip, despite exculpatory television images. In the home match against hertha BSC, podolski had been shown the red card for an alleged offence. Despite koln’s appeal, the striker was suspended for the following bundesliga match in hannover (1:4). Podolski feels this is unfair. "Those responsible for last week’s decision should seriously ask themselves whether they really acted in the interests of soccer," complained the 26-year-old, who is in a relegation battle with his club.
Matip, who had seen "red" in FC schalke’s eighth-final first leg in the european league at twente enschede for an alleged emergency stop on luuk de jong, ultimately met with more understanding from UEFA’s control and disciplinary committee after several appeals by the schalke players. The originally imposed and then postponed automatic ban for a game against the 20-year-old defender was finally lifted on thursday after a hearing matips in nyon. Here, too, the TV images had clearly proven the innocence of the pro. In both cases it was a factual decision by the arbitrator.
The DFB did not want to evaluate the case. "We have not yet received the exact grounds for the ruling, and we do not comment publicly on UEFA’s sports court rulings," said rainer koch, DFB vice president for legal and statutory matters.
Matip will now also be allowed to play in the first quarterfinal against spanish first division team athletic bilbao on thursday. Much to horst heldt’s delight: "the absolutely right, but also courageous decision. Almost no one expected us to succeed," the schalke manager commented on the verdict in the "bild" newspaper. According to heldt, the subsequent acquittal has "something of a fundamental ruling": "there has never been anything like this at UEFA before. In the future can now be decided more fairly."The manager also wants the DFB to have more room for maneuver after TV evidence in such clear-cut cases. "I hope this will also set a precedent at the national level."