Bundesliga: Referees appointed on the day of the match

As with the Werkself and all other Bundesliga clubs, where players are regularly tested for coronavirus, the Bundesliga referees will now undergo double testing ahead of every game to allow the season to be resumed. The second test will be carried out the day before they are appointed to a game. After evaluation of the test results, the DFB can appoint match officials who have had a negative test. The referees and their assistants will only meet on the day of the match. This procedure has been developed by the DFB referees management together with the DFL and the Sports Medicine/Special Match Operations Task Force under the leadership of DFB team doctor Dr Tim Meyer.

Rule change for more flexibility

In order to increase the flexibility of appointments and to reduce the travel time of referees as far as possible, the DFB has suspended the previous practice of only appointing elite referees from outside their state associations. However, a referee living in Bremen will not officiate the Werkself game on Monday night as match officials will not be allowed to referee games involving a club from their hometown.

Reduced match official teams

Bayer 04, as with all other Bundesliga clubs, will have a strongly reduced number of staff in the stadiums on matchdays – the DFL concept only allows a total of 300 members of staff per fixture. Accordingly, the number of match officials will be reduced with the target of diminishing risks: From now on there will only be the referee, the two assistants and the fourth official. The referees observer will, from now on, only fulfil their function at games through TV coverage. And the VAR set-up in Cologne will also involve a reduced number of people – there will now only be one video technician instead of the previous two and the workplaces will also be separated by plexiglass panels.