Rage, confusion and disbelief: fans, players, coaches and former referees are united in their criticism of the Bundesliga's video assistant referee after another weekend of questionable decisions in Germany's top league.
"We're totally on the wrong path. We have to take two or three steps back to get back to the football," Freiburg coach Christian Streich said. "Everyone thought everything would be fine with technology. But behind the technology are people. It can't go on like this, it's crazy. The whole game is not the game it should be anymore. It's not football anymore."
The previous weekend's games had already shone the spotlight back on the unpopular addition to the league, with Borussia Dortmund coach Lucien Favre complaining that players would have to cut off their arms to avoid conceding penalties after Julian Weigl was penalized for blocking a shot from close-range in the side's 4-2 loss to bitter rival Schalke.
"The biggest scandal in soccer in years," Favre complained.
Freiburg bore the brunt of a questionable penalty decision last weekend that allowed Leipzig to grab a 2-1 win. It was then awarded a dubious penalty of its own and also had Janik Haberer harshly sent off in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Fortuna Duesseldorf.
"It's not a foul in the penalty area just when there's contact but when there's a foul. That's the first thing. That's the way it always was and that's the way it should be," Streich said. "It's handball when a clear goal chance is stopped or when the hand is up there where it doesn't belong. Otherwise it's not handball."
Streich refused to criticize the referees, however.
"The referees are being driven crazy because they don't know what they should do. They're coming under such pressure that you nearly couldn't blame them for what's happening," Streich said.
Prior to this past weekend, statistics showed the highest number of penalties for handball since the Bundesliga began in 1963. Twenty-nine had been awarded, well over the average of 11.7 and already more than the previous high of 23 from the 1967-68 season, with three rounds of games still to play.
VAR - or the lack of its use - has also been felt in the German Cup.
Bayern Munich progressed to the final thanks to a questionable penalty decision in a 3-2 win at Werder Bremen on Apr. 24 when Kingsley Coman went down under Theodor Gebre Selassie's challenge. Referee Daniel Siebert did not consult replay despite the Bremen players' furious protests, and Robert Lewandowski converted the spot kick for the win.
Jochen Drees, who oversees VAR for the German soccer federation, criticized the "not correct" decision.
"The communication between referee and video assistant did not go well," Drees said.
Adding to fans' frustration with what often turn out to be wrong decisions are the delays that lead to uncertainty and celebrations with brakes applied.
Lutz Michael Froehlich, the German soccer federation's head of the referees, defended his officials, saying they were sticking to the rules "consistently and calculatedly. So I cannot understand when people talk of 'confused' rule interpretation or even that 'no one knows what handball is anymore.'"
But three decisions across games in Munich, Berlin and Bremen on Saturday have renewed the debate and led to a majority of respondents to a Kicker magazine survey calling for VAR to be scrapped altogether.
Stuttgart players were aghast not to be awarded a penalty when Hertha Berlin defender Karim Rekik knocked the ball away with his fist in their 3-1 defeat. There was no intervention from the video referee watching in Cologne, despite what former referee Markus Merk called the "clearest handball of the last weeks."
Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng was penalized for handball despite being able to do little about it after being struck from close range in his side's win over Hannover. This time there was an intervention from the video referee.
And later, when the ball hit Mario Goetze's arm during Dortmund's 2-2 draw at Bremen, VAR intervened - no penalty, despite Bremen's furious protests.
"In the context of this season it was a glass-clear penalty," Kohfeldt said. "I'm not making any accusation against the referee. They themselves don't know any more what they should be whistling."
Later, Drees acknowledged that Stuttgart should have been awarded a penalty, but said the incident was missed by video referee Guenter Perl, "one of the best we have."
Drees said Boateng should not have been penalized and that the decision not to penalize Goetze was correct.
Kohfeldt would not have wanted a similar decision going against him, said Dress, who acknowledged difficulties policing the handball rule. He asked for understanding for his staff. "They're people, not machines."
But patience is running out.
"The more it's talked about, the more uncertain the referees get. People always say these things balance out over the season. I don't believe it anymore," Bremen sporting director Frank Baumann said.
There could be more complaints next season with VAR set to make its debut in the second division, too.
More AP German soccer coverage: https://apnews.com/Bundesliga and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Ciarán Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP
CHICAGO (AP) — Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions entered the season with their sights set on the Super Bowl. Finishing a frustrating year by beating their division winner was at least some consolation.
Goff led five scoring drives, Jake Bates kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired and the Lions regrouped to beat the NFC North champion Chicago Bears 19-16 on Sunday after blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter.
“It feels good to kind of get back to who we are and see it in live-speed reality,” Goff said.
What doesn't feel good? Missing the playoffs.
“It’s frustrating,” coach Dan Campbell said. "So that’s what fuels you. We don’t want to be doing that again next year. That’s not where we want to be. We have got to get in.”
The Bears (11-6) stumbled into the playoffs with back-to-back losses, though they secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC with Washington beating Philadelphia. Chicago will host Green Bay in a wild-card game next week and would have home-field advantage in the divisional round if it beats the Packers.
“We’re going to use this frustration,” said Caleb Williams, who set the franchise’s single-season passing record. “We’re going to get on a roll here this week, starting this week and that’s the focus.”
Williams threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as the Bears wiped out a 16-0 deficit.
The Lions (9-8) started the final drive at their 37 after Chicago punted on fourth-and-5 at the 31. Bears coach Ben Johnson considered going for the first down but decided against it, figuring he had three timeouts and would probably get the ball back.
That didn't happen, and Detroit ended a disappointing season on a winning note when Bates nailed a 42-yarder. A 26-yard pass from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown helped set up the field goal and Detroit came out on top after losing three in a row.
Goff shook off his worst game of the season by throwing for 331 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The four-time Pro Bowler completed 27 of 42 passes after setting season highs with two interceptions and three fumbles and matched one by getting sacked five times last week at Minnesota.
St. Brown had 139 yards on 11 receptions. Gibbs ran for 80 yards and had a touchdown catch. Avonte Maddox intercepted Williams in the end zone in the third quarter.
“I still believe the nucleus of this team is right,” Campbell said. “I really do. But we are going to need to make a few changes. Not just talking about that. It will be collectively. We’re going to have to work through some things to get the best version of ourselves.”
Williams threw for 212 yards, giving him 3,942 this season to surpass Erik Kramer’s franchise mark of 3,838 in 1995. Chicago remains the only team without a 4,000-yard passer.
Colston Loveland caught 10 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Kevin Byard had his league-leading seventh interception.
“They fought their tails off, but came up short,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to play better going forward, we’ve got to coach better going forward as well and we’re turning the page, though. We got the No. 2 seed, we’ve got a home game next week and we’ve got a new season on the horizon. Our guys should be reinvigorated by that. I know I certainly am.”
The Bears hadn’t made the playoffs since 2020. But they won the division in Johnson’s first season after finishing last a year ago.
Chicago trailed 16-0 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter when Williams connected with Jahdae Walker for a 25-yard touchdown and broke Kramer’s record. A 2-point conversion run by Kyle Monangai cut it to 16-8.
After the Lions punted, Chicago went 88 yards for a touchdown, with Williams finding Colston Loveland in the end zone from the 1. A lunging Cole Kmet then hauled in the 2-point conversion pass in a crowd, tying it at 16 and whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
The Lions then had the ball at the Chicago 35 when Goff attempted to zip a pass to St. Brown. The Bears’ Jaquan Brisker tipped the ball and Byard picked it off at the 5.
Lions: WR Tom Kennedy (rib) was hurt returning a punt in the third quarter.
Bears: The Bears held out LT Ozzy Trapilo (knee/quad) after he was limited in practice during the week. ... LB Ty Summers (foot) left after he was injured on the opening kickoff. ... C.J. Gardner-Johnson (concussion) left after he was hurt on the winning drive.
Lions: Start the offseason.
Bears: Host Green Bay in a wild-card game next weekend.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Detroit Lions place kicker Jake Bates celebrates after kicking a field goal on the final play of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Detroit Lions place kicker Jake Bates (39) kicks a field goal on the final play of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond (11) runs up field after catching a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff is sacked by Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. (99) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) runs from Detroit Lions linebacker al-Quadin Muhammad (96) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) runs from Chicago Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (49) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
