After the homophobia scandal in the Austrian league, national coach Ralf Rangnick reacted sharply and is foregoing a Rapid Vienna trio around Guido Burgstaller for the upcoming international matches.
“Everything we stand for with the national team is diametrically at the other end of the value scale”said 65-year-old Rangnick, referring to the incidents following the city derby between Austria Vienna and Rapid Vienna.
The Rapid professionals Burgstaller, Marco Grüll and Niklas Hedl are not in the squad for the international matches in Slovakia (March 23) and against Turkey (March 26). He expects the players “To seriously address this issue and understand what it means for people when they are publicly insulted and discriminated against in such a way”said Rangnick: “This is something that I will not tolerate in my team.”
Insults and homophobic chants
Rapid defeated city rivals Austria on February 25th for the first time since 2019 (3-0). The team then celebrated extensively in front of the home fans – and made several mistakes, as documented by numerous video recordings. Among other things, the guests were insulted via a megaphone and Burgstaller’s team sang homophobic chants.
Door not closed for the European Championships
Rangnick emphasized that the exclusion initially applies to this course; the door is not yet closed for the European Championships in the summer. An apology as “lip service” be however “No excuse. Everything else depends on the boys showing what they really think and where they stand in terms of attitude”he emphasized: “You can say a lot, what matters is what the behavior looks like.”
Gladbach’s Lainer back
Stefan Lainer from the German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach is back in the Austrian national team squad for the first time after his cancer. “We were in touch the whole time. I found it remarkable from the start how he handled this situation. I’m pleased that he can be there again.”said Rangnick. Lainer (31) last played for Austria in September 2022 and was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in the summer of 2023.
Twelve other Bundesliga professionals nominated
There are twelve other Bundesliga professionals in the squad. In addition to Lainer, Rangnick relies on Christoph Baumgartner, Xaver Schlager, Nicolas Seiwald (all RB Leipzig), Philipp Lienhart, Michael Gregoritsch (both SC Freiburg), Phillipp Mwene (FSV Mainz 05), Maximilian Wöber (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Florian Grillitsch (TSG Hoffenheim). ), Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich), Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund), Romano Schmid (Werder Bremen) and Patrick Wimmer (VfL Wolfsburg).