The DFB-Sportgericht has suspended Aue’s midfielder Clemens Fandrich for seven months for an assault on an assistant referee.
On matchday 11, FC Erzgebirge Aue beat FC Ingolstadt 1:0 in the basement duel and celebrated their first win of the season. Shortly before the end of the game, however, Fandrich had seen red.
Fandrich had been sent off in the 89th minute by referee Nicolas Winter with a red card for spitting on the right eye of assistant referee Roman Potemkin, according to his statement. The player himself denied this.
However, the court had no doubts about the assistant referee’s account. The court also found that the movements in the scene in question supported the assistant referee’s account.
Higher penalty would have been conceivable
Hans E. Lorenz, who presided over the session in Frankfurt’s Hermann-Neuberger-Haus as chairman of the DFB Sports Court, said of the seven-month ban: “Assault against referees or their assistants provides for a range of punishment from six months to two years. In assessing the ban, the court took into account, in favour of the player Fandrich, his irreproachable behaviour in twelve years of professional football. On the other hand, spitting in the face of the referee’s assistant is such a serious matter that a higher penalty would also have been conceivable. “An appeal against the decision of the DFB Sports Court can be lodged with the DFB Federal Court within a week.