“We then went into the VIP room ourselves to be protected ourselves. And when you then observe it up close, it’s simply, yes, really bewildered.” The day after the game in the European Conference League at OGC Nice, the coach of 1. FC Köln, Steffen Baumgart, describes his personal impressions .
In the stadium, martial scenes had taken place between some of the French and German fans. A supporter, for example, fell 5 meters further down the upper tier onto the lower stand during the riots. Miraculously, he only fractured a few ribs. A week later there were similar scenes at the Frankfurt Eintracht game at Olympique Marseille. Among other things, flares fired at each other in the stadium and a fan was injured.
Glasner: “Give chaos as little stage as possible.”
Such scenes also left trainer Oliver Glasner stunned: “That a few people simply use this stage to make a ruckus, to draw attention to themselves. But of course there is no second opinion, that has lost nothing. I think it’s also important that we give these chaotic people as little stage as possible.
Both clubs, 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt, have made it clear in statements that they condemn such excesses and do not want to tolerate them. For Christos Katzidis, this is a key to curbing violence in football. The former police chief sits for the CDU in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament and has recently been president of the Middle Rhine Football Association: “All those responsible for the club, all the players must position themselves very clearly and unequivocally and do their part to make it clear that they have no business being in football. Very, very important too, yes!”
In addition, Katzidis calls for appropriate penalties for the perpetrators in an interview with Deutschlandfunk. You don’t belong in the stadium for him. He also criticizes the French security authorities: “As far as I know, as far as the facts are concerned, the security authorities were not optimally prepared, to put it in a friendly and reserved way!”
Gabriel: “Lucky there were no deaths.”
On the one hand, peaceful fans in front of the stadium were attacked by French supporters during the Cologne game. Eyewitnesses report knife attacks, for example. On the other hand, people from Cologne and Frankfurt also attacked other fans in a targeted manner. What used to take place far outside the arenas as so-called field matches is now also taking place in the stadiums in front of everyone.
In this context, Michael Gabriel from the coordination office for fan projects warns against an upgrade in the German curves. The threads of the socio-educational institutions that are active at over 70 football locations in Germany come together here: “That’s a worrying development that we can follow. An accumulation of violent incidents, which is rather unusual in its dimension. And that’s also very, very disturbing. So we had two games, and you have to be very clear about that, where it was lucky that there were no deaths.
A look at German football shows that such violence hardly ever takes place in this country. Scenes like the game between Bremen and Augsburg, in which Werder Ultras stormed over the fence to the advertising board because they felt provoked by the guest goalkeeper, have so far remained the exception. Nevertheless, a different picture is now emerging in international games in ultra scenes, in which the topic of “violence” is viewed positively by more and more fans, says Michael Gabriel:
“In our opinion, this has become even more important and valuable within the ultra groups. And that’s why we also observe that in certain games these groups within the ultra scenes, which are still complex and where there are different interests, that these groups simply dominate in certain games and set the tone, so to speak .”
Katzidis: “Something like in Nice is not possible in German stadiums.”
In addition, there are regular violent riots in French football that the security authorities can’t get a grip on. When the French record champions St. Etienne were relegated last season, the disappointed supporters didn’t just rush to the pitch. But also for tracking the players, flares are also fired into the players’ tunnel.
The game between Nice and Marseille was also canceled last season, just as the last two German opponents from France in international competitions. “I don’t think that something like Nice could happen in a stadium in Germany because our security authorities are set up differently there,” emphasizes Christos Katzidis, President of the Middle Rhine Football Association and former senior police officer:
“I also know now, since I was the head of operations myself at various events, how major events are prepared. There is actually a thorough assessment of the situation in advance, then measures are derived from this, conclusions, and then a concrete concept is implemented. The German security authorities, i.e. the police, are actually very, very well positioned there.”
In any case, German football seems to be better armed against such excesses than is the case in France. There is also hope that many peaceful Cologne and Frankfurt fans have already made it clear in the stadiums that they condemn this violence in football.