Mainz beat Gladbach 4-3: Amiri digs up the penalty spot, Didi Hamann demands a ban

BONN – In stoppage time of the match between Mainz 05 and Borussia Mönchengladbach, as referee Hartmann pointed to the penalty spot for the visitors, midfielder Nadiem Amiri left the substitutes' area, walked to the 11-metre mark and used his heel to scuff up the turf. Gladbach's Diks placed the ball on the very spot that had been disturbed and missed. The officiating team did not spot the act. Broadcast footage replayed after the match showed that Amiri had already been substituted and stepped back towards the touchline just as Diks was preparing to run up. The penalty kick was still taken in the normal sequence and was missed. According to the Goal.com report, pundit Didi Hamann reacted furiously on Sky: “That is grossly unsporting behaviour. He has gone far over the line.” He added that, if it were up to him, he would take Amiri out of circulation for the next matchday, and stressed that children are watching the games. The Goal.com report also made clear there is no basis for claiming that the damage to the penalty mark was the direct cause of Diks's miss, and that any inference in that direction is pure speculation. Before that moment, Mainz led 2-1. The visitors were awarded the penalty after a handball inside the box. New signing Isac Lidberg equalised at 2-2 for Gladbach. Mainz substitutes Martel and da Costa then scored twice in the closing minutes to make it 4-2 before Gladbach pulled one back to 4-3. A fourth consecutive defeat leaves Gladbach bottom of the table with 0 points from four matchdays, at a club that has been German champion five times. Head coach Eugen Polanski was dismissed immediately after matchday 3; Jan-Moritz Lichte is in interim charge and Alexander Blessin is expected to take over as head coach. On the same matchday, Hamburger SV beat 1. FC Köln. Amiri is 29 and is named in the Germany squad under new head coach Jürgen Klopp, ahead of two fixtures against the Netherlands and Greece. Under IFAB Law 12, unsporting behaviour is a cautionable offence. Law 14 requires the penalty mark to be clearly identifiable and the ball to be stationary on it. The video assistant referee protocol only permits intervention for red-card offences, penalty decisions, direct goal awards and mistaken identity, so a yellow-card offence falls outside its scope. The officials' failure to spot the incident is therefore consistent with the current rules. The disciplinary body of the German football association can open a case on the basis of broadcast footage for conduct the referee did not observe. The harshest outcome discussed in public is a multi-match ban plus a fine, although the usual tariff for non-violent gamesmanship is a financial penalty. So far there has been no official statement from the DFB disciplinary body or from Mainz 05. Amiri remains in Jürgen Klopp's squad list.