Stefan Lupp, 40, has specialized 10 years ago as an assistant referee. He assisted Felix Brych in the Olympic Games 2012, the Confederations Cup 2013, the World Cups 2014 and 2018, the Euro 2016 and the Club World Cup 2017. In 2017, he was in the final of the Champions League, 2014 in the Europa League final and 2015 in the German Cup final. Lupp spoke with SportBuzzer for the first time after the World Cup in Russia about the harsh criticism of Serbian coach Mladen Krstajic, the reasons for leaving early the World Cup and the VAR lessons.
- After almost two weeks at home I feel better. But the disappointment is still there.
- What explanation was given by FIFA for your premature end?
- There was no reason provided.
- How was the decision communicated to you?
- In Brazil 2014, all referees who were not retained have been announced in a meeting where we got a medal and could say goodbye to all colleagues, because friendships have emerged. This time, the referees who had to go home received an email telling them to attend a meeting late at night, where it was then communicated to us personally.
- There was a lot of criticism from Serbia for the missed penalty against Switzerland. How do you see the decision in hindsight?
- We analyzed the situation and came to the conclusion that we have nothing to blame! If we made the decision the other way around, there would have been criticism from Switzerland. The decision is in our view still 50:50; there was no black and white. Therefore, there was no reason for the VAR to intervene. Brych told Zwayer that he saw a foul on the Swiss player; Zwayer saw the same thing and did not have to intervene.
- There were speculations that Brych could have ignored Zwayer and was therefore sent home.
- That was not the case; there was no communication from the VAR in that situation. If we had actually ignored a hint from the VAR, we would have had to live with the departure.
- Was the appointment of a German referee to a Swiss game not appropriate?
- It was already discussed, because the Swiss and we speak German. Immediately after the match Serbian coach Mladen Krstajic said that he does not comment on the referee's performance until the day after the full broadcast came.
- Krstajic said about Brych: "I would send him to The Hague". There is the UN war crimes tribunal.
- That was unacceptable and I have not experienced it that way; that is incredible. We have been criticized a lot, have experienced a lot, but that was probably the worst abuse we had to endure.
- Serbian captain Aleksandar Kolarov subsequently criticized Felix Brych for speaking German with the Swiss players: "I kept asking them to speak English", he said.
- That does not correspond to the facts. Felix spoke German, of course, in the heat of the game, but he was never asked by Serbians to speak English. Basically, I think that was not against the person Brych, but was said to get as much media attention as possible. In the end, we were so much in their focus that it became difficult to get another match.
- We were not told in the evaluation that there should have been a penalty kick in this situation. As a result, we still believed that the decision will be supported.
- Pierluigi Collina, head of FIFA Referees Committee, did not support you after the match.
- That was also a difficult situation for him: If he would had said that it was a mistake, the VAR would be in the criticism. If he would had said that the decision was correct, there would have been further criticism from Serbia.
- After the early departure of Germany you were already seen as possible referees for the World Cup final. Did you have any hopes for that?
- We did not think that far. We went there with the goal to get a game in the knock-out round, since we did not have that in 2014. That was, I think, not presumptuous. But after the Switzerland - Serbia match we already felt that it would be difficult.
- Do you think that this game will have a long-term impact on your international career?
- Of course, it will be difficult to get future matches of Serbia, since FIFA and UEFA are certainly very sensitive. But otherwise I do not think that it has any further effects.
- You said before the World Cup that you are curious how the video referee works because he was not practiced in some countries before. Are you pleasantly surprised?
- It went much better than expected, so you can draw a positive conclusion. After all, such a World Cup is all about being satisfied: the players, the coaches, the officials, the fans. If the referee goes to the screen and then says “I have seen the same”, that leads to a very large acceptance. But of course, any corrected decision by the VAR is a mistake made by the referee. I think that without the video screen one or the other referee would not have been scheduled. Luckily, they did not have to discuss about wrong decisions later.
- What can be brought from there to Bundesliga, where the VAR is in the criticism?
- FIFA had two great instructors, Roberto Rosetti and Carlos Velasco Carballo, who had the benefit of having had one year of experience since the launch. We could take a lot out of it. In addition, we had very many courses and there were four instead of two VARs, with one of them only responsible for the offside. And the technology is amazing. In Bundesliga we had no offside lines, at the World Cup we even had images in 3D. And there you see, how wrong many offside lines have been pulled by the TV so far. The main criticism in the second half of the Bundesliga was indeed the offside. I hope that these things will also come to the Bundesliga and help the VAR to gain more acceptance.
Source: SportBuzzer
