A masked fan unplugs a VAR monitor during a German second division football match.
Bundesliga 2 club Prussia Münster said in a statement that the video assistant referee system should have been used after a foul in the first half of Sunday’s match against Hertha Berlin.
However, “the referee was unable to review the incident using the VAR monitor at the stadium because masked spectators from the active fan section illegally entered the pitch and unplugged the technical equipment”.
“Ultimately the penalty decision was taken by video referee Katrin Rafalski in the VAR room in Cologne,” the club said, adding that it “regrets the incident and will do everything in its power to identify and bring the perpetrator(s) to justice.”
“Immediate steps were taken to prevent similar incidents in the future” and initial findings “suggest that this was a planned move – shortly after a technical malfunction a banner to that effect was displayed in the home section,” Prusen Munster said.
Images from the match showed home fans with a banner reading “Pull the plug on VAR”.
Image: Bernd Thiessen/Picture-Alliance/dpa/AP
Hertha Berlin scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-2 in stoppage-time.
It was VAR Introduced in the Premier League in 2019 And the league was initially welcomed by players and fans who expressed concerns about refereeing.
Since then, VAR has been a major source of controversy, as the league’s chief football officer admitted in 2024. Decisions are very slow And spoils the fun for supporters.
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According to the Premier League’s website, VAR is only used for “clear and obvious errors” or “serious missed incidents” – meaning goals, penalty decisions, straight red card incidents and incidents of mistaken identity.
