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HSV debacle: VAR chaos and sending off cause outrage!
After the 4-1 defeat against Cologne, HSV coaches and players criticized the VAR and the sending offs in the game.
HSV debacle: VAR chaos and sending off cause outrage!
After a heated game on November 3, 2025, Hamburger SV had to accept a bitter 1:4 defeat against 1. FC Köln. After the final whistle, coach Merlin Polzin and defender Miro Muheim were visibly frustrated with the referee's performance and the decisions surrounding the video evidence. In total, Hamburg only came onto the field with nine players after two yellow-red cards were given during the game.
The focus was on the sending off of Immanuel Pherai in the 79th minute and Fabio Vieira, who had to leave the game in the 83rd minute. There was particular controversy surrounding a missed goal by Vieira, which was scored in the 50th minute. However, this goal was taken back due to a foul by Rayan Philippe on Eric Martel while Ransford Königsdörffer was passively offside. The fact that this scene took more than six minutes to review caused great confusion in the Hamburg camp.
Referee apologizes for long review
Polzin criticized the long waiting times and expressed incomprehension that the verification took so long. Referee Daniel Schlager admitted that the delay was due to various scenes that needed to be checked. Muheim described the situation as extremely frustrating and questioned the criteria used to carry out the review. “You don’t know what they’re looking at,” he sums up. HSV striker Yussuf Poulsen joined the criticism and questioned Vieira's second booking, which came after he had previously been warned several times for complaining.
Such debates could not only be heard in Cologne. There were also similar discussions about video evidence in Düsseldorf during the game between Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1:1). A goal was disallowed due to offside. Referee Lars Erbst's technical problems with his microphone led to additional ambiguity in the reasons for the decision.
The future of VAR in football
Video evidence (VAR) continues to cause heated discussions in football, including between club levels. Estimated complications and disagreements about the application of the technology show that there is still a lot of catching up to do. Experts are calling for more clarity and transparency in the decision-making processes in order to avoid such a situation and the subsequent controversies.
How the issue of VAR will develop further and what measures will be taken to make the game fairer remains to be seen. Whether something will ultimately change in terms of handling – the discussion will certainly continue! For more games and news from the football world Kicker a valuable source of information.
Read more about the background and decisions in the football world Welt.de and find out about the technical details of the VAR Stack Overflow.