Gonther sees work “torpedoed”
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The shock at Dynamo Dresden is deep; the consequences of the fan storm in the game against Hertha BSC could be serious for all of German football. The massive riots at the second division game are a heavy burden in the struggle between fan representatives, associations and politicians for stadium security. “After this new scandalous game, there can be no more quarter for further negotiations or talks. My patience has finally come to an end here,” said Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) to the German Press Agency. The events symbolize a “folklore of violence” in German football stadiums and call into question the entire negotiation process so far with the German Football Association (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL), Schuster explained.
The two umbrella organizations condemned the events very clearly. The DFL told the German Press Agency that a quick and consistent reappraisal was necessary and in the interests of all 36 clubs. “The unique fan culture in Germany is falling into disrepute due to violent perpetrators like the one in the game between Dynamo Dresden and Hertha BSC Berlin,” said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf to the “dpa”. The scenes were “completely out of the question, football unfortunately became a minor matter that day,” added Neuendorf.
Fan riots are the topic of the next Interior Ministers’ Conference
“I will personally have the results of a precise analysis of this game by the clubs and the city in collaboration with the police presented to me,” emphasized Schuster. The character of an upcoming conference of interior ministers will also be significantly influenced by “how draconian the consequences are that are drawn from these riotous excesses,” emphasized Schuster.
In the past he viewed bills to the clubs for police costs as the wrong approach, but the pressure continues to increase. The ministers will meet again in June, but at the last round in Norderney in mid-March, the state sports ministers had already demanded greater cooperation from the DFB and DFL.
The DFL stated that it has been advocating sensible and justifiable security measures for months in order to strengthen the high level of security in the stadiums and maintain the positive fan culture. “These incidents endanger fan culture and football as a whole,” emphasized the umbrella association.
“Our Curve” accuses Schuster of generalizing
The fan organization “Our Curve” was against using pyrotechnics as a weapon. “Violence cannot be tolerated in the stadium either,” said a statement to the German Press Agency. But it also cannot be the case that the behavior of a few is made the benchmark for 25 million football fans in the stadiums.
Schuster’s classification follows a well-known pattern. Individual, particularly striking images would be singled out and then exaggerated to form a general assessment of fan culture in German football. “The fact is that immediately before the well-known images there was renewed advertising for German football and its fan culture,” it said. The fan organization called “sensational choreographies on both sides, exemplary use of pyrotechnics without any damage or even injuries and an atmosphere that German football is the envy of abroad.”
Ultimately, on Saturday evening, 750 police officers from Bavaria and Thuringia as well as the Saxony riot police prevented anything worse from happening, including a possible demolition in the first half. The game continued, the guests from Berlin won 1-0. The police have several investigations pending against fans. The DFB announced that it would initiate investigations against the clubs after the Easter holidays.
Dynamo Dresden’s Gonther: Difficult to stand up for fan interests
Dynamo’s sports director Sören Gonther reacted with shock. “It torpedoes what we are working on all around, with fan representatives, club representatives, DFL, police and so on. Everyone has been working for months to guarantee a safe stadium experience. And that deprives us as a club of any argument to stand up for fan interests,” said Gonther in the Sport1 “double pass” – especially since Dresden fans have repeatedly attracted negative attention in recent years.
For his commercial managing director colleague Stephan Zimmermann, the “images are unacceptable and are massively damaging not only to our club, but to the entire football in Germany. Such scenes are an absolute blow to the bank,” he emphasized.
During the game, pyrotechnics were initially ignited by both sides. Afterwards, supporters of both teams climbed over the fences. Dresden supporters ran masked along the pitch to the Hertha fan block. There was a brief encounter between the two fan groups, during which pyrotechnics were used as projectiles.
Hertha boss Görlich: “Grist for the mill of the big critics”
Referee Sven Jablonski had to interrupt the second division match a second time and sent the teams to the dressing room after the riots. A hundred police officers then pushed the Dynamo supporters back into their block. A Hertha flag was burned down there.
The misconduct of the Berlin fans, who jumped over the barriers and set off pyrotechnics first, was also obvious. “This is of course grist to the mill of the big critics. We are aware of that,” said managing director Peter Görlich. The events did not correspond to his “values framework”. Hertha coach Stefan Leitl described the events as a “disgrace for German football”.
