Brych expresses sympathy for Hradecky's "harsh" red
Leverkusen-Dortmund match official Dr. Felix Brych conceded that he felt his duty to send off B04 keeper Lukas Hradecky for handling a ball outside the box late in the match "a bit harsh" and had already explained his logic to the Werkself skipper.
| Dr. Felix Brych | Эдгар Брещанов CC-BY-SA 3.0 |
After review, Dr. Brych felt he had to deliver Hradecky a straight red for the clear denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. Byrch applied item one of rule 12, which states that any handling of the ball to prevent a goal-scoring chance must meet with a sending off.
"I should have paid more attention during the referee training," Hradecky remarked afterwards, "At most I was five or ten centimeters out. I would have acted differently if if that counts preventing a goal-scoring opportunity."
Brych revealed that he himself felt iffy about the decision.
"It was really a weird scene," the ref conceded, "I've never given a red card like that in the Bundesliga. I've experienced something like that at some point in amateur football. I was a bit sorry that I had to decide so harshly there, but there was no other way."
"It's ultimately an emergency braking rule that's applied here, and clearly it's a bit harsh," Brych continued, "I explained it to him, I get along pretty well with Lukas anyway. He's a fair sportsman and always comes to say thank you after the game. I appreciate him and that's why I talked to him."
