The DFB Federal Court has reduced football coach Marco Antwerp’s ban from twelve to three months for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Federal Court announced that the accusation of attempted manipulation had not been confirmed.
Antwerp was given a twelve-month ban by the German Football Association’s sports court on August 28th. The 54-year-old then filed an appeal.
The verdict against Antwerp’s former assistant Frank Döpper with a three-month ban was completely overturned by the Federal Court. Both judgments are legally binding.
It’s about the final of the Lower Saxony Cup
As coach of VfL Osnabrück, Antwerp is said to have asked athletic trainer Tim Schütte twice before the Lower Saxony state cup final on May 24th against regional league team Blau-Weiß Lohne to suggest that Lohne player Bernd Riesselmann not play. Riesselmann was at the time on loan from VfL to the final opponent and has been playing in Osnabrück again since this summer.
“I am innocent. I have had difficult months, as you can imagine,” Antwerp told the “Bild” newspaper before the appeal hearing. According to statements from several witnesses, the Federal Court no longer considered it to be proven that Antwerp and Döpper specifically tried to influence the opponent’s line-up and thus the course of the game.
Antwerp was “misunderstood”
Döpper had no significant influence on the behavior of others. The court found that Antwerp was a classic misunderstanding. “But he must be blamed for not having observed sufficiently, for his statements to be misunderstood and taken seriously, and for negligently risking interference in competition,” explained Oskar Riedmeyer, chairman of the DFB Federal Court.
Riesselmann had categorically refused to refrain from deployment and informed his advisor about the incident. The 21-year-old was also used in the state cup final and scored a goal in the 4-2 win for the underdogs.
Labor court hearing begins in December
After the events became known internally, VfL Osnabrück terminated the contracts with Antwerp and Döpper, which were valid until 2027, without notice on May 27th. The two 53-year-old soccer teachers are suing the labor court in Osnabrück, which will hear the case in December.