The case of massive anti-Semitism in Berlin youth football now has serious consequences for a club boss. According to a sports show report in January, the Berlin Football Association had initiated proceedings against the chairman of CFC Hertha 06, Ergün Cakir. Now there was a verdict that TuS Makkabi Berlin as “important sign” evaluates.
Two years ban from office and 1,000 euros fine. This is the verdict of the sports court against Ergün Cakir. He is vice president of the entire club and chairman of the football department at CFC Hertha 06. According to the chairman of the Berlin sports court, Dennis Dietel, the verdict is also a stadium ban for Cakir. For two years he was not allowed to attend any of his club’s games in Berlin or in the entire area of the Northeast German Football Association (NOFV), under whose umbrella Hertha 06 plays as a top division team.
Anti-Semitic statements by the club boss
The Berlin Football Association (BFV) wanted to set an example. “We can’t always just warn and hang up posters”said BFV Vice President Jan Schlüschen. “If club officials are already acting like this, something decisive must finally happen in the fight against unbearable anti-Semitism.”
On November 13, 2022, anti-Semitic incidents broke out on the fringes of the A youth game between Hertha 06 and TuS Makkabi in the Berlin district league. Two youth players were then banned by the sports court for two years, including Cakir’s son. In addition, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office is investigating the two players – because of possible incitement to hatred and the use of unconstitutional symbolism. In a report by WDR magazine Sport inside and Sportschau about the incidents in January, Cakir then said, among other things: “My son will hate the Jews for the rest of his life.”
turbulent sports court hearing
These and other anti-Semitic statements by Cakir were the subject of the sports court hearing on May 26, which was turbulent. Cakir asked the sports court to exclude the two club representatives from TuS Makkabi from the hearing. He feels provoked and threatened by them. When the sports court did not comply with this request, Cakir left the courtroom. He told the sports show: “Why are people from Maccabi sitting there? It’s about me. I couldn’t speak when they were sitting next to me. I was scared.”
“A typical perpetrator-victim reversal”, said BFV Vice Schlüschen. The sports court chairman Dennis Dietel spoke of “absolute intransigence”. The behavior of the club representative from Hertha 06 who remained in the hall was also found to be very irritating. According to Schlüschen and Dietel, he, the president of the entire association, absolutely did not want to recognize the anti-Semitism case as such.
BFV: “One can only punish”
Cakir himself admitted in an interview with Sport inside and the Sportschau that he estimated the proportion of Jew-haters among the members “fifty-fifty”. snuggles: “Nobody sees the structural problems in this club. It was said that everything is fine with us – even though Ergün Cakir’s statements in the interview were dripping with anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories from start to finish.”
In addition, the association has not yet complied with the BFV’s request from February to develop a preventive catalog of measures to combat Jew hatred in the association. “We gave so much help, named many contacts and projects – and they just don’t do anything. Then you can only punish them.”said Schlueschen.
Cakir himself claimed that he had visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the memorial in Auschwitz with youth players. Why didn’t he state and document this? “I don’t stand a chance, no matter what I do. I would have to kiss people’s feet here to get a fair judgement.”he said.
Cakir wants to appeal
The verdict means a deep cut for Cakir. The building contractor has also been the main sponsor for twelve years and has led CFC Hertha 06 from the state to the premier league. Now he’s on the outside. And what’s more: The verdict, which the Northeast German Association is also likely to implement, also prohibits him from holding an office in another club for two years. He announced that he would appeal.
In theory, however, he could remain on the board at Hertha 06 on paper because the football association is not allowed to intervene in the club’s autonomy, according to Dietel. But Cakir recognized that this would be pointless. He will resign to avert further damage to the club, he said. Funding has already been canceled for CFC Hertha 06. He will hand over his office to one of his sons.
Satisfaction at Makkabi Berlin
Makkabi Berlin’s board spokesman Ilja Gop welcomed Cakir’s ban from office with satisfaction: “This judgment is an important sign for all Jews in Germany that German sport does not trivialize and suppress the topic of anti-Semitism, but deals with it and makes clear judgments.” One hopes that Makkabi will have a deterrent effect, although it is clear to everyone that anti-Semitism on the amateur courts will remain a sad part of everyday life. According to a study, 68 percent of all Maccabi football players said they had already been attacked with anti-Semitism at least once.