Karazor calls for halt to attacks on Arnold after contrversial call, Hoeneß remains mad
VfL Wolfsburg skipper Maximilian Arnold - when conducting his post-match interview with Sky Germany - noted that his ankle was "still hurting" from Karazor's alleged hit. Karazor made a direct appeal to VfB fans to stop insulting Arnold and match-official Sven Jabloski on social media.
A challenge for a loose ball between respective VfB Stuttgart captains Maximilian Arnold and Atakan Karazor in a Saturday Bundesliga fixture ended up with the latter getting sent off incorrectly. Match official Sven Jablonski later conceded that he erred in sending Karazor off on double yellows. On Monday, Stuttgart announced that they had lodged an appeal with the DFB to prevent Karazor from being excluded from this coming weekend's league fixture against Hoffenheim.
Karazor and VfB head-coach Sebastian Hoeneß were both on hand to discuss the matter at a pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow's Champions' League fixture against Smart Prague. VfL skipper Arnold declined to comment on the situation during his post-match interview with Sky Germany. The 30-year-old WOB captain even went so far as to say that his ankle was "still hurting" from Karazor's hit.
Arnold took some heat in the German press for his stance on the issue. VfB fans also took to social media to blast Jablonksi and Arnold. Karazor addressed this. While emphasizing that it was actually he that was "still hurting" from Arnold's hit, the VfB skipper reiterated his call in an instagram post for VfB fans to refrain from inciting further hatred.
"I've not had any other contact [with Arnold] since then," Karazor said, "My appeal to every one of our fans applies to [insults directed] at not only Mr. Jablonski, but also Maxi Arnold. This simply isn't part of who we are at VfB. I hope the suspension is lifted. Apart from that, the matter is settled."
Hoeneß remained mad.
"It was a clear mistake," the coach said, "At the very least, it's a 'give back call' that makes no sense. It could even have been that we got a man-advantage instead of being a man down. That would have significantly increased the likelihood of the game swinging our way.”