German broadcasters ARD have defended the staging of Tuesday night's DFB-Pokal tie between Borussia Dortmund and Holstein Kiel following complaints made live on air by Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp said the game should not have gone ahead due to a frozen pitch in Kiel and, although his side won 4-0 to move into the semi-finals of the competition, he was livid at the final whistle, claiming the ARD had forced the game to be played due to its television schedule.
"The game could not have been called off today because the TV puts so much pressure on," Klopp said.
"I am just incredibly relieved that nobody has picked up a serious injury.
"You wouldn't even play ice hockey on this surface. The conditions were not good enough for professional football."
However, the ARD's sports co-ordinator Axel Balkausky said Klopp was pointing the finger at the wrong people.
He said it is the responsibility of the German Football Association (DFB) to decide whether a game takes place, whether it is destined for live television broadcast or not.
"Our influence is zero," he is quoted as saying by the Bild newspaper. "It is zero point zero.
"The referee does not confer with us, and that is perfectly right too.
"We do not decide whether any sport event should take place or not."
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