The cheers of the “Zebra” fans were deafening when Julian Köster scored what was supposed to be the winning goal for THW Kiel in the 117th northern derby against SG Flensburg-Handewitt at the last second. But then the great disillusionment: the goal didn't count.
After watching the video images for minutes, the referees decided it was a step error by provider Domen Makuc. This is how the top game in the handball Bundesliga ended 31:31 (18:14) - and with a lot of frustration and anger for the people of Kiel. “It just hurts right now,” said THW managing director Viktor Szilagyi, describing the mood.
Wolff: “Pathetic referee performance”
Kiel goalkeeper Andreas Wolff was furious: “That was a pathetic refereeing performance,” the national goalkeeper told the “Kieler Nachrichten” and added: “Today they rewound until they could whistle something against us and were rewarded for finding something. They could also have seen a foul on Makuc. But they didn't want to. We have many good teams in Germany, this is not one of them.”
THW circuit runner Hendrik Pekeler also struggled with the referees. “In my personal opinion, I don’t see anything that would make the referees have any doubts and therefore go to video evidence,” said the veteran and asked, perplexed: “Of course this rule exists, but what prompted them to go there?”
DHB reacts to criticism
The day after the game, the German Handball Association (DHB) responded to the massive criticism. «We know about the emotionality of a northern derby, but we also expect an objective analysis and, above all, respectful interaction with one another. “We also require that everyone involved in the game operations knows the rules in detail,” said the association.
Kiel's coach Börge Lund had previously shown little understanding for the referee's decision. “If you do it in such a way that you go back further and further into the actions when you watch, then you also have to look at the entire last 30 seconds: First you look at whether Julian is standing in the circle. He doesn't. Then you keep looking back until you find something. “It makes you wonder where you set the limit,” said Lund.
SG coach Ales Pajovic, on the other hand, was happy about the point won, which his players cheered enthusiastically. “Ultimately I have to be happy with the decision in the end, we still won a point. I actually saw a goal, then we saw that there was a chance for steps."
The Slovenian brought up an option for coaches - which has been requested from time to time in the past: "It would be good if there was a challenge option, that would make things easier - so we are very dependent on the referees."
Flensburg understanding for Kiel's frustration
Even Flensburg, who maintained their lead in the table thanks to the draw thanks to a better goal difference over Kiel, who had the same number of points (both 11:1), showed understanding for their rivals' frustration. «It's a really hard decision. I understand Kiel and I understand the hall. If it had been the other way around, I might have been angry too,” said SG backcourt player Simon Pytlick.
The technical error was clearly visible. “But you can often find steps in the game,” said the Danish world and European champion and added: “From a sporting perspective, I don’t know whether it was the right decision because something like that happens very often in the game.” The German national player Marko Grgic added: “If you are always so precise with the video evidence, we might have a 9:9 as a final result.”
Kiel already challenged Master Magdeburg on Wednesday
In the overall balance of the derby, the Kiel team is still ahead with 68 wins after the sixth draw. Flensburg has 43 successes. However, neither team has much time to deal with such statistics. The next top game is on the program for Kiel on Wednesday (7 p.m. / Dyn). The record champions travel to the current title holders SC Magdeburg, who are currently third in the table with 10:2 points.
Flensburg will also start the European League on Wednesday (6.45 p.m./Dyn), which they won in 2024 and 2025. The first opponent in the preliminary round is the Spanish representative BM Granollers.
