DFB support required Ittrich raises the alarm about many referee injuries
October 8, 2024, 3:18 p.m
Four prominent soccer referees are currently out injured. One of them also sees the increasing stress as a reason for this and is calling on the DFB to take action. Patrick Ittrich sounds the alarm – and yet calls for less “fuss about it”.
The currently injured top referee Patrick Ittrich is also calling for impartial measures from the German Football Association in view of the ever-increasing burden. “Unlike the professionals, we don’t train with a team. I’m alone on the pitch. In case something happens to me, I have to build up a network and organize a doctor and a physio. And the physio is waiting “I didn’t answer my call that I was injured,” said Ittrich in an interview with “web.de”.
“A lot of players have already complained about the problem of the many games and the load control. This is also reflected in the referees,” Ittrich continued. The 45-year-old is currently out due to a “serious” muscle injury because he “did too much before the season” and simply continued training after the initial pain: “After our performance test – instead of recovering – I said: ‘No, that The season is about to start, now you have to do another session.'” Deniz Aytekin, Robert Schröder and Frank Willenborg are also currently injured.
Load control is also an issue for referees
“It could be a coincidence that this adds up. On the other hand, it is like this: Aytekin and Willenborg are already over 40 years old,” said Ittrich. The referees are also making more and more effort to stay fit. “But you can’t explain away your age. Traveling from game to game in particular is a challenge for the body,” explained the referee: “Unlike the professionals, we never have a home game.” However, he sees the squad size of 24 DFB referees for the Bundesliga as sufficient.
In the police officer’s opinion, there is currently “more fuss about it than necessary”: “There were also phases in the past in which three or four referees were injured at the same time. That wasn’t noticed that much because it wasn’t communicated before. And then no one cared.”
