The Duisburg regional court has sentenced a football coach to six years in prison. The man had inflicted some serious sexual violence on two players and filmed the acts. Not an isolated case: In Munich and Frankfurt there are also cases of emotional, sexualized violence and rape of numerous underage boys in football.
The Duisburg coach knew the three affected children through football. He invited the boys to his house to spend the night. There were serious attacks on two of the players. “I’m very sorry for my actions. I would do anything to undo it.”the defense attorney read for the defendant.
The coach had no criminal record and made a full confession. This meant that the two main victims did not have to testify in court. The public prosecutor’s office and the court took all of this into account in mitigating the sentence.
Naked on the massage table
The football coach who is currently on trial in Munich has also made a confession. That’s why most of the 30 people affected don’t have to appear in court in person. Instead, the video recordings of their statements to the investigating judge are shown in the courtroom. “We had the impression that it was part of it”says a young witness in the video hearing. With “it” he means the so-called “treatments” by the former trainer. He carried out physiotherapy on the boys; he does not have any relevant training.
The treatments usually took place in a changing room at the sports facility. There the players lay naked on the massage table. The coach had locked the door from the inside. He considered his manipulations of the naked boys’ penises “important for blood circulation” designated. A finger penetration into the anal area “second way”to treat hip flexor pain.
This is how it happened for him, says a young player, adding that the pain was gone seconds later. They talked to each other about the so-called “treatments” and joked about them. A “running gag” Some players agree that it was. And: “Everyone knew it was strange, but nothing got out.” It all came to light by chance. Sometime later, a complaint got the investigation rolling. The indictment lists 30 players affected, but in fact there are probably significantly more.
Coach at professional clubs
The coach was considered an absolute football expert and had looked after the young talent of a professional club for many years. That alone made the coach a person of respect in the eyes of the boys. “What he said was done”, describe these and also report strict disciplinary measures. For example, a two-week training ban for being late. On the other hand, one of the witnesses reports that he organized a trial training session at the professional club.
The Frankfurt coach also trained the youngsters of a professional club and worked for various football clubs in the region. The verdict against the man came down almost a year ago: twelve years and nine months in prison followed by preventive detention. The coach had made some of the children, whom he knew from football, unconscious with medication and alcohol, then sexually abused them and filmed the acts. According to information from the co-plaintiffs, the doses of anesthesia were sometimes so high that they could have been fatal for the children. The eleven affected players had to testify personally in court. The public was therefore mostly excluded from the process.
New process necessary
But not when an expert testifies. However, the court had neglected to let those waiting in front of the hall back in. A procedural error, the case went to the Federal Court of Justice. He ruled in mid-February: The process must be reopened in parts. It currently looks as if seven of those affected will have to testify again. “A disaster” a co-plaintiff describes what a new statement could mean for her client.
A comprehensive confession by the accused right at the beginning of the new procedure that is now necessary could possibly prevent this. Will it happen like that? The judge at the Federal Court of Justice described the accused trainer as a cold-hearted person with a high level of criminal energy.
Like the defendant in Munich, the coach from Frankfurt also trained numerous teams in various clubs for years. “There are a lot of victims”, one of the co-plaintiffs in Frankfurt is certain. And in the case in Munich, according to the public prosecutor’s office, there are significantly more people affected than listed in the indictment. The man convicted in Duisburg was also active as a football coach for decades. However, the investigations apparently did not reveal any evidence of anyone else affected.
Easy access to children
The German Football Association has more than seven million memberships and is by far the largest sports association in Germany. Almost half a million boys between the ages of six and 18 are organized in German football clubs. Many of them have the dream of emulating their idols and want to become professionals.
“People with intent to commit crimes have easy access to children and young people in football due to the high need for volunteers.”says Bettina Rulofs. The sports sociologist and her team have conducted many studies to investigate the extent of sexual violence in sport. This shows that perpetrators act strategically, promising a trial training session at a professional club, making friends with the players’ parents, and offering to help in difficult situations.
People with this strategy use the enthusiasm for football among children and young people to satisfy their personal needs. There are no studies on the extent of emotional, physical or sexual violence specifically in football. However, Bettina Rulofs emphasized in an interview with Sportschau: “Due to the large number of children and young people in football alone, it is obvious that there are a particularly high number of cases there.”
Reprocessing necessary
The German Football Association has the topic on its radar and is increasingly incorporating child protection and prevention into coach training. Professional clubs have recently had to demonstrate a child protection program in their youth training centers in order to receive the license. However, the implementation is not checked. However, there is currently no systematic, independent analysis of emotional, physical and sexual violence in football.