The relegation battle in the 2nd league is emotional. This is nothing new. But when the video referee intervenes four times for epic lengths, causing a total of 21 (!) minutes of added time, the nerves of those involved are strained even further.

That’s exactly what happened in the second division duels between Holstein Kiel and 1. FC Nürnberg and at Arminia Bielefeld against SC Paderborn on Saturday. The first half was delayed by four XXXL video evidence decisions – and fans in both stadiums reacted accordingly.

Sky commentator speaks of “mood killer”

Sky commentator Jürgen Schmitz repeatedly described the video evidence as a “mood killer” while everyone involved waited in Kiel. And waited. And waited. For minutes.

On a signal from Cologne, from video assistant Johann Pfeifer, who was more in the spotlight that afternoon than he would have liked.

Video drama in the 2nd league: fans react with a boycott

But first things first. The Kiel team, who are also deep in the basement of the second division after being relegated from the Bundesliga, were 2-0 behind against Nuremberg after just 22 minutes. Ex-HSV coach Tim Walter, the new coach of the “Storks”, was served – and so were the fans.

The supporters reacted with a boycott; apart from a few whistles, it was quiet in the Holstein Stadium.

And although the result from Kiel’s perspective became increasingly better and the Schleswig-Holsteiners fought their way to a 2-2 score before half-time, there was no organized support. However, the reason was no longer the performance of their own team, but rather the video referee.

Both of the hosts’ goals were examined for several minutes before the people of Kiel were allowed to celebrate. Instead of cheering, the fans preferred to chant “Shit DFB”.

The connecting goal by Adrián Kaprálik (29th) and the equalizer by Kasper Davidsen (45th + 8) it was an offside situation that had to be checked. Both times it was close, but both times it wasn’t offside.

However, this only became clear after a review that frayed the nerves of players, coaches and fans – the equalizer alone took more than five minutes until it was recognized.

Fans in Paderborn protest with tennis balls

Almost identical scenes occurred at the same time in Bielefeld. In the game between Arminia, who was also in a relegation battle, against SC Paderborn (halftime score: 1-0), there were also two extremely long VAR breaks that heated up tempers.

The difference: Neither of Paderborn’s two goals counted here. Neither that of Filip Bilbija (9th) nor that of Calvin Brackelmann (45th + 3/both offside) could withstand the scrutiny of VAR Guido Winkmann.

The guests’ followers were correspondingly upset. And so at the beginning of the second half they caused an interruption themselves – with tennis balls that were thrown onto the court. Tennis balls have already been a common means of protest against the DFB in the past. The Hamburg referee Patrick Ittrich, who is on his farewell tour, had to pause the game for around two and a half minutes.

The result of the double video madness: seven minutes of added time in Bielefeld and 14 (!) minutes of added time in Kiel. In the third Saturday game in the 2nd league between Braunschweig and Düsseldorf, in which the video referee, strangely enough, also disallowed two goals, things were comparatively civilized. The waiting time at the Eintracht Stadium on Hamburger Straße was “only” a few minutes.