Patrick Ittrich is causing discussions with his statements about the burden on referees. Referee boss Knut Kircher is upset about this. So much so that he traveled to a course and gave an incendiary speech.
Patrick Ittrich’s statements are causing a stir. The Bundesliga referee had publicly advised the DFB to take measures to reduce the physical strain on the referees. Ittrich and other referees are currently out due to injuries.
Ittrich said in an interview with “web.de”: “The DFB has to think about measures outside of the games when it comes to managing the load on the referees. (…) In case something happens to me, I have to build up a network and organize a doctor and a physio. (…) A lot of players have already complained about the problems with the many games and the load control. This is also reflected in the referees.”
Knut Kircher doesn’t like these statements at all. As the “Kicker” reports, the DFB referee boss is said to have appeared on Wednesday, contrary to plan, at a course for first and second division referees on the DFB campus and made an incendiary speech about the Ittrich interview.
“I wanted to say something personally to the group”
Kircher told the football magazine afterwards: “I was actually signed out for both base days. Because of the current matter surrounding the interview, I wanted to say something to the group personally on Wednesday.”
Kircher dislikes the fact that Ittrich addressed the issue publicly. After all, his door is “symbolically always open. That’s why I ask myself why, in a case like this, a more experienced referee like Patrick Ittrich didn’t call me or the sporting director Peter Sippel to talk about his point of view and his criticisms.
Kircher is “always ready for dialogue, but internally and not through the public. That’s why I saw the public criticism as an affront to the employees of DFB Schiri GmbH, who are committed to implementing the measures.”
Meanwhile there was a discussion between Kircher and Ittrich. The referee (83 Bundesliga appearances) told the “Kicker”: “I have known and respected Knut for a long time. That’s precisely why our discussion was perhaps a little more emotional at one point or another, but still factual in nature.”
Ittrich continued: “It was never my intention to criticize the DFB or the employees of Schiri GmbH. As can also be seen from the context of the interview, I simply explained possible reasons for the current increase in injuries among referees – and suggested that we should think together about how we deal with it.
Ittrich can understand Kircher’s initial displeasure: “For Knut as boss, what is in the public eye is of course also crucial – and not just what I actually meant. “So I can understand that something like this doesn’t go unnoticed, both internally and externally.”
SUF
