In the high-stakes Bundesliga match where Bayern Munich drew 1-1 away to Bayer Leverkusen, multiple decisions made by referee Christian Dingert sparked significant controversy. After the game, Bayern Munich Honorary President Uli Hoeneß angrily stated: "This was the worst performance by a referee team I have ever experienced in a Bundesliga match." Meanwhile, the German Football Association (DFB) referee spokesperson responded, indicating that Luis Díaz's red card suspension will likely remain unchanged.
In the 84th minute of the match, Luis Díaz, who already had a yellow card, fell to the ground after competing for the ball with Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Janis Blaswich. Dingert judged it as a dive and showed the Colombian a second yellow card, sending him off. However, slow-motion replays clearly showed that there was indeed contact between Díaz and the goalkeeper.
After the match, Dingert admitted to making this wrong decision. "From what I saw during the game, I thought player Díaz was diving. That was my judgment at the time. The slight contact on his foot was something I didn't notice in the moment," Dingert stated in an interview. “But now watching the footage, it's clear that this wasn't a penalty. And the red card decision was too harsh—I wouldn't make the same call if I had to do it again.”
Bayern Munich Director of Sport Max Eberl revealed after the match: “I just spoke with Dingert, and everything was fine; we had a pleasant conversation. He also said that the second yellow card leading to a red was unreasonable. In his opinion, Díaz was clearly diving, but after watching the footage now, he says: that wasn't a yellow-red card offense.”
Hoeneß's fiery post-match comments escalated the controversy to new heights. Nevertheless, Alex Feuerherdt, DFB referee spokesperson, responded with a clear stance. "Perhaps his opinion was influenced by the fact that most decisions went against Bayern. But we're by no means talking about a scandalous mistake here," Feuerherdt told the media. “The second yellow card was a fact-based decision by the referee. Such fact-based decisions are usually final, so suspensions typically remain in place unless there are serious errors such as mistaken identity.”
