There are numerous allegations by players against handball coach André Fuhr of abuse of power and psychological violence. In addition to Borussia Dortmund, another club is about to be processed: HSG Blomberg-Lippe.
Anja Ernsberger played under Fuhr at HSG Blomberg-Lippe and joined the team at the age of 20. The psychological pressure was great, reports Ernsberger in the “Lokalzeit OWL” on WDR television. There were “very bizarre rules”. “We weren’t allowed to sit or lean while drinking,” says Ernsberger. She trained with a fever and period pains for fear of the consequences.
Before her first Bundesliga game, she left the television on in the evening because she couldn’t sleep. The next day, Fuhr asked the team “why I watched TV so long before my first game and whether I didn’t take it seriously”.
The handball player Anja Ernsberger
Fuhr trained at the HSG for 16 years
Fuhr was released from Borussia Dortmund in September. The two BVB players Mia Zschocke and Amelie Berger had turned to the independent contact point for violence and abuse in top-class sport “Start against Violence”. This was subsequently contacted by several other players. Fuhr was also active at the DHB.
The trainer is accused of “the systematic build-up of dependencies, exploiting a position of power and psychological violence”. Fuhr’s lawyer described the allegations, according to “Der Spiegel”, as “essentially incorrect”. HSG Blomberg-Lippe, where Fuhr was a trainer for 16 years, also has questions to ask.
Handball coach André Fuhr
Jolanda Bombis-Robben, who also played under Fuhr in Blomberg and now trains some of his former players as a sports psychologist, speaks of her “worst season”. In the case of abuse of power, there is a system that allows something like that. When asked if the club must have noticed anything, she said: “Definitely!”
HSG in writing: “It affects us”
The club is not ready for interviews. It takes time to process what happened. The club commented in writing at the request of the local time OWL. “It affects us not to have seen and punished the events,” said the HSG. “We resolutely distance ourselves from it.”