The 41-year-old German international A’ division referee, Sasha Stegeman was appointed to manage the AEK-PAOK derby next Sunday and looking for additional information about him, from what is already known, a very interesting and relatively recent story emerged.
The well-known international refereeing blog “Refereeing World” specifically mentions that Stegeman had been placed under police protection for about a month, following death threats he and his family received, on the occasion of a decision of his that largely decided the Bundesliga title in 2023.
The German referee had denied Dortmund a clear penalty in their 1-1 draw with Bochum in April 2023 for Matchday 30. Dortmund, with this draw but also with another one (with Mainz) in the last game, finally lost the title to Bayern.
The day after the fight, Stegeman admitted his mistake and apologized, but also said that for this mistake, he received threats on his life and his family!
According to Bonn’s “General Anzeiger”, some time later at a referee event in Cologne, Stegemann shared more details with his colleagues. In particular he told them that he realized after the fight that he made a mistake and that this decision could affect the race for the title. And that late at night after the race, two police officers came to his house and informed him of death threats against himself and his family. Stegeman said he was escorted by police to a television interview the next day and protected for a total of four weeks. He also emphasized to them that his wife had supported him to continue refereeing after the said incident.
Source: Sport Fm
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