Four months after a German goalkeeper was hit by a fan’s lighter, his team gets to keep the win

Bochum's head coach Dieter Hecking, left, comforts Bochum's Tom Krauß, right, after the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and 1. FC Union Berlin in Bochum, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

DUESSELDORF, Germany — A long-running German soccer dispute seems to have finally come to an end Monday as Bundesliga club Bochum was allowed to keep a win it was awarded after its goalkeeper was struck by a lighter thrown from the stands.

It may not be enough to save his team from relegation.

Monday’s ruling by a German soccer tribunal rejected an appeal from Union Berlin more than four months after its game with Bochum ended in bizarre circumstances.

The two teams were heading for a 1-1 draw in Berlin on Dec. 14 when Bochum goalkeeper Patrick Drewes was hit on the head by a lighter.

The game was suspended and Drewes received medical treatment. The referees decided to continue the game half an hour later without Drewes, who refused to carry on. Bochum’s coach said the team was playing under protest.

The two teams agreed to play out the remaining few minutes without attacking and the final whistle blew at 1-1 as players stood around and chatted.

A month later, the German soccer federation’s sports court awarded Bochum a 2-0 win, reasoning that Union was responsible for its supporter injuring Drewes and causing Bochum’s team to be weakened.

Appeals followed over recent months by Union — which warned of “dirty tricks” — and other clubs concerned they might lose out if Bochum moved up in the standings.

Announcing Monday’s ruling, tribunal chair Udo Steiner there was “a de facto abandonment” when the two teams agreed not to score, so it was legal to decide the result for Bochum as if the game hadn’t resumed at all. The ruling confirmed two earlier decisions in favor of Bochum.

The legal process dragged on long enough for Union and Bochum to play again in the reverse fixture Sunday, drawing 1-1.

Keeping the two extra points for a win, rather than a draw, is a boost to last-place Bochum’s faint hopes of avoiding relegation. Still, a loss Friday at 16th-place Heidenheim would ensure Bochum drops down to the second division after four years in the Bundesliga.

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press