Three-time world’s best referee, own dental practice, extreme sportsman, TV expert in Turkey, founder of an aid project in India: Markus Merk can look back on an illustrious career on and off the field - and did so in a detailed interview with SPOX and Goal. Merk talks about his beginnings, his time as a dentist, in the armed forces and the highlights of his career as a referee. Then he explains why an engagement at the DFB failed, how he was convinced of a career as a TV expert in Turkey and became a folk hero there. The 58-year-old also explains why the interpretation of the handball rule is becoming more incomprehensible from year to year and how Sebastian Kehl wanted to convince him to introduce video evidence more than twelve years ago.
- Mr. Merk, in 2008 you decided to end your active referee career one year before reaching the age limit. Why?
- I was even offered a derogation from the age limit, but I did not want that. Everyone knew that I did not even want to go into the final year. A year earlier, although I ended my career internationally, I became world’s best referee again. I wanted to make a self-determined decision at the climax and not have a farewell tour, where I get to hear the same sayings at every stadium.
- What options did you have after your career as a referee?
- I had three good offers from clubs, but decided against them.
- Regarding a job at the DFB, you once said: "The DFB knows that they could have me, but they didn't move. I won't apply anywhere, anyway." Did you feel a lack of appreciation?
- I am predictable. When I do something, I do not do it because of a position, but because I want to make a difference and bring refereeing forward. Everyone knows that I already gave myself a lot of thought in my active refereeing. It was also a time when refereeing was not exactly going well. It was clear to me that I would not sit down in the stands as a silent observer and say “Dear Felix Brych, I’m giving you an 8.5 today”. For me, this is pointless and not effective.
- What would your ideas have been like?
- We had excellent referees on the pitch, but they kept getting younger. There are no 30-year-olds with 15 years of professional experience at the highest level. That is why it would have been important to me to promote social skills and personality; also needed in other areas of the DFB, such as the youth national teams or women. I have presented a concept for this. It was bitter when speculations about some job demand were made in the aftermath. Then I decided to take a deep breath after 20 years as a professional referee.
- Did you have any more conversations later?
- At that time, I had a very good conversation with the then DFB President Theo Zwanziger, which ended like this: Mr. Merk, great, great! I knew you could be relied on. Secretary General Wolfgang Niersbach will definitely contact you within the next 14 days. Months later, I met Niersbach at an event. He said: Markus, you are a child of the DFB, one of our leaders in refereeing. You once got lost! I had waited until that day for his call, but I also knew that nobody had let him know about it. In football associations it is simply the case where vanities and one's own position play a major role.
- In the same summer, you received an enquiry from Turkey about a job on TV there. How did that work exactly?
- I was there for three days for talks, but actually didn't want to be out every weekend again. I didn't miss anything and was busy enough with my lectures and my corporate work anyway.
- But you agreed later.
- In 2010, the President of the Turkish Disabled Sports Association sought a conversation with me. He was commissioned by a television station to get in touch with me. But I also said to him that I can't imagine that. He replied: ‘If I ask you to come to Turkey, then listen to me!‘ I thought to myself: 'Germans, Turks, disabled people - if I don't do that, I'll be dead!' (laughs) In the beginning, I was only supposed to be there on Mondays and, anyway, I expected that the matter would be over after four weeks. So I gave my consent.
- Then stayed for four years...
- At that time it was just getting started with all games being broadcast live. I was on LigTV, a parallel channel from Sky. The studio was brand new, I was translated sensationally. I could only pronounce Galatasaray once, it was difficult as was Besiktas. The driver picked me up at the airport, and there was a picture of the moderator, a well-known trainer, and me on all the walls. The broadcast lasted up to four hours. Suddenly, it was said that I shouldn't just come on the weekend. I said that it didn't work with my family and got the answer: That has already been resolved. Your son can go to German school here. We then agreed that I would come on Sundays and Mondays and, for very important games, also on Saturdays. By 2014, I flew 155 times to Istanbul - for 355 broadcasts.
- You were very popular in Turkey. How much did you like the job?
- Very much. In Istanbul, I was 'Markus' for everyone. I came up as 'Markus hakem': Markus, the referee. This became 'Markus abi': Markus, the brother. After about a year I was already 'Markus hoca'. This is actually the greatest praise you can get - like a teacher.
- You were also active for Sky in Germany for a long time. Did you communicate with the active referees at that time?
- That was inevitable in the years at Sky. Especially when I disagreed with a decision. (laughs) Negative criticism was never personal, but always factual. I know from my own experience how difficult this separation is. I refereed with many of them; some travelled abroad with me or grew up with me, such as Gagelmann, Kinhöfer, Kircher or Brych. Respect was never lost. Over time, however, the exchange became less. Some of the current referees were still in the Bundesliga when I was there. This distance makes commenting easier.
- Which rule questions are you still worrying about today?
- The subject of handball has been getting worse and worse for years. In the meantime, everyone has given up because nobody understands it anymore and there are no more lines. I've tried constructive suggestions, but sometimes there are people on the committees who don't necessarily belong there. The video evidence is similarly complicated. I still remember an anecdote from March 2008.
- Tell us!
- At that time, I refereed the game between Dortmund and Bremen, in which a not-recognized offside goal was scored by Bremen's Markus Rosenberg. The action was then shown on the video screen. Then I also realized that it shouldn't have counted. Sebastian Kehl came to me and said: Hey, Markus, did you see that? Of course I had seen it and replied: That looks offside. But I decided otherwise and had relied on my assistant. When Kehl asked me to look at the scene again on a monitor, I made it clear: Sebastian, if I do that, I would introduce video evidence and this would be my last game. The fact that I only considered that support through technical aids would make sense in critical situations subsequently triggered an unimaginable storm - also internally from some nice colleagues. In the next edition of Kicker, I had to set out parts of my 30-point plan to save my head.
- Twelve years later, the video evidence is as relevant as ever.
- All of a sudden, the video assistant was introduced with a concept that is still undecided today. I never said that all of my ideas were fit for purpose, but that ten associations were given the same test parameters, for example, is absolutely nonsensical. No details can be tested in this way.
- What would your ideas look like?
- I have always been an advocate of a right of veto with a special concept. That makes the matter more attractive and exciting, as I have explained point-by-point. My problem was that I was the first to prominently address such a review system. And precisely those who vehemently voted against technical aids at the time are now those who keep finding new areas of responsibility in this area.
- How can the subject of handball be solved in such a way that everyone understands it again?
- There is only one solution: Take 20 to 30 situations every year, look at them according to strict guidelines and present the evaluation transparently to the outside world. There can be no black and white thinking, the majority of the situations must become more understandable for everyone. There have been suggestions for such an approach, but in recent years a lot has been broken again. The aim must be to keep the gray area as small as possible.
- What is the meaning of the fact that nobody can say what intent is because nobody can look into the head of the player?
- There has to be a clear intention against the ball. I liked to use the term negligence. Everyone agreed when I came up with the term, but there were always adjustments. I always had a very clear line when it came to arm posture. For me, the main question was: How can football become better and more attractive for the fans? Because without them we don't need to play at all.
- You have been active in endurance sports your entire life, especially mountain climbing - including numerous incidents. Did you never think of quitting then?
- I have always been an endurance freak. For the past ten years, my top sport has been ultra trail running. There are curious things like the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc with a length of 178 kilometers and 10,500 meters of altitude. Before the 2002 World Cup, I crashed while climbing on Piz Morterasch in Switzerland. In 2009, I broke my ankle during a rescue operation in Bolivia. But it hit me hardest at Lenin Peak in Kyrgyzstan in 2014.
- During the descent, you met a group in which a German suffered from altitude sickness and was in danger of death. What exactly happened?
- I helped him. When fixing and loosening the ropes it was necessary to take off the overgloves again and again. The day got longer and longer, we made our night camp at 6,400 meters. After the trip, five of my fingertips were severely frozen. At first it looked really bad because half of the fingers were black. Three are now more or less okay, the other two are missing the top. But I would do it again and again and don't want to make it any bigger than it was. It doesn't stop me, but doing exercise in the cold creates a feeling of numbness. Unfortunately, high mountains and thin air are no longer conceivable at my age.
