Missing out on a potentially momentous day in your career? Tough.
Harry Kane was furious with referee Bastian Dankert’s decision to card him in last Saturday’s match between Bayern Munich and Mainz, which ended in a 3-0 win for the Bavarians.
It was Kane’s fifth yellow of the season and as a result has seen him suspended for what could well be the title-winning contest in Leipzig this weekend. But the official evaluators came to Dankert’s defense, with retired referee Marco Fritz — who grades out current refs for the German footballing association — chiming in to say “The yellow card is 100% covered by the rules”, as captured by @iMiaSanMia (via Sport1).
Even Kane’s teammates were bitter about the result, however, and Thomas Müller — the man who could stand to benefit from Kane’s absence with a start of his own — weighed in in support:
Thomas Müller said that the referee should have shown more ‘tact’ given that it was Kane’s 5th yellow card and would see him suspended
However, Fritz responded to that remark as well, saying: “Tact is always difficult when it comes to applying the rules. It’s not about whether a player receives his fifth or tenth yellow card — a referee only has to assess the match of the day.”
That seems fair enough.
The incident involved Kane holding on to the ball after a foul and denying Mainz players the chance to make a free kick. If you ask this author’s opinion, he certainly held on to the ball a little too long and made too much of it, resulting in a situation where a leniency might have been shown, but he cannot be too aggrieved to have received a booking — and certainly no referee can be expected to consider the importance of any future games to a particular individual.
However, it is really too bad Kane will not be able to take the field on Leipzig — especially if it is the day Bayern lifts the trophy.
