The 47-year-old Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe takes legal action against the German Football Association. "I'm suing the DFB for age discrimination", said Gräfe in an interview with Zeit Magazin. "The DFB takes away what I enjoy. Of course, there are also financial losses and I am trying at least to assert them".
Gräfe had to end his career at the end of last season despite good performances because he reached the age limit of 47 years set by the DFB. “I would have liked to continue. My feet, knees, and hips are fine. But the DFB insists on an age-limit guideline", complained the Berliner and emphasized: "I feel as if I could whistle until I were 50 or longer." In court, he wants to fight for the entire referee community, as the rule also affects other colleagues and even has more serious consequences for the lower divisions. Gräfe, who had received praise from many coaches and players, made it clear: "I will no longer referee myself, even if I would succeed with my complaint". In other European leagues, the age limit no longer applies, for example in England. The 50-year-old Martin Atkinson whistles in the Premier League to this day.
In the conversation, Gräfe not only argues against the DFB, but also against his former colleague Felix Zwayer, about whom he said in 2018 "How can someone like that get to the top of the German refereeing?" In the 2005 Robert Hoyzer scandal, Zwayer accepted a small amount of money from Hoyzer and initially did not report the manipulation process. "Anyone who once accepted money and kept Hoyzer's manipulation secret for half a year shouldn't referee professional football", said Gräfe again about Zwayer, who participates in the Champions League, among other things. “Here we are again at the DFB. They also promote Zwayer, despite his average performances”, he says.
Source: Der Spiegel