Union Berlin loses appeal over disputed Bochum match.

In the second of two rulings issued today by a German Federal Court, Union Berlin filed an appeal to overturn a decision that awarded VfL Bochum three points in a disputed December Bundesliga match. Earlier today, Union's co-plaintiffs Holstein Kiel and St. Pauli had their motion to appeal denied. Union's own case has been dismissed.

Oskar Riedmeyer, chairman of the federal court, spoke in front of the assembled media to explain the decision. Riedmeyer's words effectively conveyed that the risks posed by German spectators throwing pyrotechnics onto the pitch outweighed the Union's sporting arguments. The court essentially believed that a hard line must be drawn when it came to safety issues.

"Our deliberations took longer than expected and this certainly did not make matters easy for us," Riedmeyer told me. "We have the problematic case of objects being thrown onto the pitch again, and this time a player [VfL Bochum goalkeeper Patrick Drewes] was hit on the head. Union's appeal is denied."

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