Eintracht Frankfurt President Peter Fischer once again condemned the riots surrounding the Champions League game at Olympique Marseille at his club’s general meeting. “It was like civil war,” said the 66-year-old.
“I never imagined anything like that.” His own block had been “shot at,” he said, looking at the many banned fireworks that had been lit. “Of course there was also misconduct on our part,” Fischer continued.
Last week, the European football union UEFA fined the Hessian Bundesliga team a total of 45,000 euros for the incidents on September 13 in Marseille. In addition, Eintracht was imposed two suspension penalties for a period of one year: a partial closure of at least 1000 places at the next European Cup home game and a fan exclusion at an away game.
The processing of the incidents is not yet over. “We are a fan-friendly club and we always want to be and remain so in the future,” said the entrepreneur. “We have a pyro paragraph and clear guidelines in the club. We want to celebrate the Champions League without excluding spectators and penalties.”
Axel Hellmann, Spokesman of the Board of Football AG, also made clear reference to the escalations. “We got off lightly with the verdict,” he said. “But we all have a duty to ensure that professional football doesn’t take the wrong turn. Does the first death have to happen before there is a rethink? This is also about how the club will develop,” he warned. “If we don’t regulate it, it will be regulated for us, from the outside.”