Werder Bremen brings Johanns: released from RB Leipzig after racism incident

Second chance in Bremen

Werder Bremen is giving midfielder Lennart Johanns, who was released from RB Leipzig after an “incident with racist comments,” a second chance. The Green-Whites introduced the 18-year-old defensive midfielder, who is returning to his former club, on Tuesday as a new signing for the U19 team, which plays in the A-Junior Bundesliga North/Northeast. In Bremen’s statement, Johanns said he was “very grateful that I have the opportunity to play here again. I made a big mistake in Leipzig that I sincerely regret. I want to do everything I can on and off the pitch at Werder to take advantage of my opportunity.”

According to Björn Schierenbeck, head of the performance center at Werder Bremen, the commitment was “very intensively examined,” “both internally and externally. We exchanged ideas with our colleagues from Leipzig. The statements of those responsible at RB gave us a picture that Lennart clearly crossed the line in this case, but that he did not commit any other crimes during the two and a half years in Leipzig. Our experiences with him were positive both in terms of football and, above all, as a person. After intensive discussions, including with our fan culture and anti-discrimination department, we decided to include him in our U19 team and give him a second chance. However, there are also conditions attached to it that he has to fulfill.”

Johanns played for Werder between 2018 and 2021 before moving to the Leipzig U17. According to his own statement, U19 coach Cédric Makiadi knows the youth player from the Bremen U16: “He was vice-captain for me and I had a very good impression of him. I am therefore absolutely ready to add Lennart to our team.”

Lennart Johanns is supposed to develop an anti-racism project at Werder Bremen

According to the Bremen team, Johanns should “not only play football, but also be actively involved in social projects and develop a project in the areas of anti-discrimination, anti-racism or diversity.” The Bundesliga club’s anti-discrimination officer, Jermaine Greene, said: “Lennart is regularly in our team Included in the play space project. He will also organize an event in coordination with the Fan Culture and Anti-Discrimination Department, where he will create the main topic, develop the concept and take over the organization and implementation. Of course, all of this is supported and accompanied by Werder employees.” The Bremen fan scene defines itself as anti-fascist and stands for an open society.

At the end of January it became known that Leipzig had parted ways with two U19 players who were not named at the time. The players are said to have gossiped about a teammate and made derogatory comments about his skin color. Head coach Marco Rose praised the quick intervention of the other youth players in this context: “Big compliment to the boys because this issue was clarified in the dressing room. Someone stood up there and said it doesn’t work that way. The club then drew the necessary and correct conclusions. (…) We are of course happy to provide advice in order to develop knowledge, to develop a feeling for what they actually said and did, in order to then do it better in the future.”

Rose drew a parallel to the many demonstrations against right-wing extremism that are currently taking place in Germany. “We are taking to the streets, fighting against this and I believe that it is right and important that we stick with it,” he said. Last week, the ex-professional called for people to defend themselves against right-wing extremist tendencies in Germany.

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