Baumann was hit on the head with full force by the knee of Dortmund player Carney Chukwuemeka in the decisive incident of the match that led to the BVB goal that sealed their 3-2 victory. He immediately displayed a large and severely swollen laceration on the pitch and was dazed for several minutes.

"Oli's concussion really hits us hard. Not only did we lose the game against Borussia Dortmund due to what we believe was an illegitimate goal, but now our captain and TSG goalkeeper is out for the season run-in," said Andreas Schicker, TSG Hoffenheim's Managing Director of Sport, adding: "We are still of the opinion that the referee should have stopped the match against BVB immediately in that situation in order to protect a player with a potentially serious head injury and have him treated immediately."

"My diagnosis shows in exemplary fashion that what's at stake is the safety of the players on the pitch, who in the worst-case scenario can even suffer consequential damage from such situations," added Oliver Baumann, the TSG captain and goalkeeper. "That's why, in the interests of player health, there can be no debate about stopping the game immediately in the event of possible head injuries – regardless of the situation at the time. We goalkeepers in particular find ourselves in situations in our position in which we move towards the ball with our hands and head first and the opponent can hit us with his feet with potentially serious consequences. In those cases, it's always us keepers who take the risk and only very rarely the outfield players."

TSG App
TSG App TSG App
Print Page to top