The standard of refereeing in East German football had become a bone of contention in the upper levels of the
SED and the East German regime, and the cup final was played at a time when the disillusionment about the successes of
BFC Dynamo stood at its peak. The
German Football Association of the GDR (DFV) and the football weekly Die neue Fußballwoche received more than 700 complaints regarding the performance of the referees in the final. With DFV functionaries, as well as
Egon Krenz and other SED politicians, uneasy about the negative reactions, a special review of the final was conducted. An eight-person panel led by DFV President Günter Erbach examined the video recording of the cup final on 21 June 1985. The panel concluded that 30 percent of the referee decisions were wrong, and that 80 percent of those had been of disadvantage to Dynamo Dresden. The referees had made 17 major mistakes during the final, of which 14 had been in favor of BFC Dynamo and 3 in favor of Dynamo Dresden. Of the 10 most egregious mistakes, 9 went against Dynamo Dresden. As an example, a regular goal from
Ralf Minge was denied due to an alleged offside position. Referee Manfred Roßner was banned one year from officiating matches above second tier and assistant Klaus Scheurell was de-selected for the next round of the European cup. The cup final was the last match before retirement for assistant Widukind Herrmann. Manfred Roßner conceded that he performed poorly during the final, but insisted that this was unintentional and unrepresentative of his "impressive record". Nothing emerged that indicated that Manfred Roßner had been bought by the
Stasi. On the contrary, Manfred Roßner claims that he was approached by the DFV Deputy General Secretary Volker Nickchen before the match, who confidentially requested "no BFC-friendly decisions". He was also approached by the incensed DFV Vice President
Franz Rydz after the match, who took him to office for his performance with the words: "You can't always go by the book, but have to officiate in a way that placates the
Dresden public". Manfred Roßner has continuously denied that he intentionally whistled against SG Dynamo Dresden in the cup final. In the book "Dynamo Dresden – a legend turns 50" () from
Sächsische Zeitung, he said: "I can hardly look myself in the eyes when I analyze the game. But if I had intentionally whistled incorrectly, I would be half a criminal. That's not me." ==Notes==