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Referee Christian Dingert (2nd R) walks after showing Munich's Luis Diaz (R) a yellow-red card during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena. Federico Gambarini/dpa Bayern Munich's appeal against a second booking for Luis Diaz in the 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen has been rejected by the German Football Federation (DFB) - despite the referee acknowledging after the game that he had made a mistake. The Colombia winger was sent off for diving in the box on Saturday, but referee Christian Dingert later admitted the incident did not warrant a yellow card as he was clipped by Leverkusen keeper Janis Blaswich.
"That the referee’s decision would probably not have been made that way if television review was used is not significant," Stephan Oberholz, head of the DFB's disciplinary body, said in a statement on Monday. "What is decisive is that the incident constitutes a factual decision, which can only be corrected if it is serious, obvious and beyond any doubt objectively incorrect. That is not the case here.
" Diaz is now banned for Bayern's home game with Union Berlin on Saturday as they close in on the Bundesliga title. Theoretically, Bayern can appeal again within 24 hours. The video assistant referee could not intervene during the match as they cannot rule on yellow cards at present, only goal incidents and straight red cards.
Bayern were angered by the match officials' decisions in Leverkusen, which also included Harry Kane having a goal controversially disallowed for handball on video review. Honorary club president Uli Hoeness told the Bild newspaper it was "the worst refereeing performance I have ever seen at a Bundesliga match. " The DFB has defended its refereeing team and Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes told reporters on Monday he does not understand Bayern's vociferous reaction to the incidents.
Leverkusen almost won Saturday's game in stoppage time but Jonas Hofmann was adjudged just to be offside. Bayern's Nicolas Jackson was sent off in the first half and pundits widely agree he deserved the dismissal for a studs-up tackle. Former Bayern midfielder Dietmar Hamann told Sky that the Bavarians' stance was "unbecoming of a world famous football club.