Moussa Ndiaye avoids suspension after successful appeal

Ndiaye was sent off by referee Michael Bacher in the 51st minute after what was thought to be a foul on Lukas Petkov, with the Schalke defender shown a second yellow card.

Following a telephone hearing with the referee and a review of the television footage, the Sports Court established that it was in fact the Elversberg player who committed the foul, while Schalke’s number 16 had done nothing wrong.

Bacher acknowledged that he had mistaken which player had committed the offence and that Ndiaye had not been guilty of any other unsporting conduct in the incident.

That means the referee’s decision was made in error and was, beyond any doubt, objectively incorrect. In this exceptional case, section 11 no. 3 of the DFB’s legal and procedural regulations makes it both possible and necessary for the sanction to be overturned. That provision is also in line with the relevant FIFA and UEFA regulations.

The first yellow card shown to Ndiaye, in the 7th minute, remains in place.