During the match against Rot-Weiss Essen, Viktoria Köln’s goalkeeper coach lost his temper. This has now led to disciplinary action.

Referee Felix Weller had signaled six minutes of stoppage time in the third-division match between Viktoria Köln and Rot-Weiss Essen (1–2) last Sunday. TV footage shows he blew his whistle too early—two seconds too early, to be exact.

Kevin Rauhut apparently noticed this as well. Shortly after the premature final whistle, the Cologne goalkeeper coach rushed toward the referee, complained loudly, and was subsequently shown a red card. The German Football Association (DFB) has now suspended the 36-year-old for one match for this incident.

Rauhut did have a point, however, as former referee Babak Rafati explained to the website liga3-online.de.

“According to the rules, stoppage time may be extended but not shortened,” he said, adding: “This incident not only violates the rule—even if it was only two seconds—but is also very unfortunate, since Cologne had possession and was trailing. Here, it would have made sense to at least wait those 2 seconds and then blow the whistle. In practice, referees usually even let the final attack play out, only blowing the whistle afterward and not keeping track of the time down to the second. Thus, blowing the whistle too early constitutes a wrong call.”

Rafati also noted, however, that the referee’s subsequent reaction was entirely appropriate: “Nevertheless, the goalkeeper coach is not allowed to run onto the field in this manner and protest to the referee, so the red card was justified under the rules.”

The consequence for Rauhut? He is barred from entering the stadium’s inner area, the locker rooms, the players’ tunnel, or the tunnel leading to the locker rooms during Viktoria Köln’s upcoming away match against Hansa Rostock (Saturday, April 4). This ban begins half an hour before kickoff and ends half an hour after the final whistle. During this time, he may not make contact with the team either directly or indirectly.