In a recent decision, the sports court of the German soccer federation has granted Bochum a 2-0 victory over Union Berlin, stemming from an incident in their Bundesliga match last December when Bochum’s goalkeeper, Patrick Drewes, was struck by a lighter.

This marked only Bochum’s second win throughout the season. On Thursday, the court’s chairman, Stephan Oberholz, explained that there was a need to assume that Drewes was indeed hurt by the projectile thrown by a spectator from Berlin. This incident limited his ability to perform, ultimately impairing the team’s overall performance. The court ruled that the responsibility for this incident falls on Union Berlin as per the federation’s regulations.

The specific match took place on December 14 and concluded with a score of 1-1 following the injury to Drewes, who was hit while preparing for a goal kick during the added time. In light of the situation, referee Martin Petersen paused the game and led the teams off the field as Drewes received medical attention. Once the match resumed after almost thirty minutes, Drewes was substituted by striker Philipp Hofmann, and the teams mutually agreed not to pursue scoring in the remaining three minutes.

After the event, Bochum’s chief executive, Ilja Kaenzig, announced that the club intended to file a formal complaint about the match outcome, claiming that the referee’s decision to restart the match was improper.

Union Berlin retains the option to appeal the decision made by the sports court within the next week. Union spokesman Christian Arbeit expressed that the ruling contradicts their legal interpretation, which holds that the match concluded correctly with the score of 1-1 according to the referee’s declaration. He further mentioned that the club will assess the possibility of an appeal once the written explanation for the court’s decision is received.

With this ruling, Bochum would rise from the last position in the league, while Union would maintain their rank at 12th place in the 18-team division.