Hannover 96 has been fined by the DFB sports court for misconduct by some fans. Hannover criticizes the penalty as too high – there is dissatisfaction with several clubs.
Hannover 96 admitted that fans of the club were involved in altercations with opposing fans and used pyrotechnics in the game at 1. FC Magdeburg. 96 distanced themselves from the behavior, but criticized the punishment system of the DFB. According to their own statements, the second division club should pay 120,000 euros.
One sees the punishment by the DFB critically, it said in a statement from the club. “This approach is no longer justifiable. Hannover 96 will actively seek exchanges with other clubs. Initial talks have already been initiated.”
Cologne did not want to accept punishment either
The Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln made a similar statement. Cologne should pay a total of 231,200 euros after the storming of the pitch by FC fans in the last home game of 2021/22 against VfL Wolfsburg and the use of pyrotechnics in several games in the final phase of the season. The club did not accept the verdict in early July. The penalty is too high and the procedure is not effective, criticized Cologne’s managing director Christian Keller.
Cologne club president Werner Wolf said: “We are continuing a practice that is known to have no positive effects on the existing challenges. It would be more effective for fans, those responsible, the association and clubs to engage in a considered debate. We see an opportunity to start these debates again.” Several clubs, such as Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart and Schalke 04, recently appealed against the fines imposed by the DFB sports court.
Jena sued against the DFB penalties – and initially lost
Regional league Carl Zeiss Jena went further than any other club and sued against the penalties of the DFB. Jena argued that the club was being punished for something it couldn’t do anything about. The club does “everything” in its power to prevent incidents, explained managing director Chris Förster at the time.
In November 2021, however, the Federal Court of Justice decided that the penalties were permissible because they were not penalties – instead, it was about “preventive measures to ensure proper game operations in the future”. Carl Zeiss Jena announced a constitutional complaint before the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
DFB wanted to create clarity with the catalog of penalties
At the DFB, the control committee investigates offenses and the sports court judges. Again and again there was the accusation that the verdicts were arbitrary in their form and level. A catalog of penalties published in 2018 (“punishment guideline”) is intended to show exactly what is threatened with which offence. Since then, for example, 1,000 euros have been due for each pyrotechnic object in the Bundesliga and 600 euros in the 2nd Bundesliga. Depending on the league, several other offenses are named with the exact amount of a fine;
“Transparency leads to acceptance”, said the then 1st Vice President of the DFB, Rainer Koch. With the published catalog of penalties and the “perpetrator-oriented sanctioning”, the DFB presented the collective penalties repeatedly criticized by fan organizations, such as ghost games and block bans, as the “last resort”. Collective penalties have almost ceased to be an issue since then – mainly due to the individual counting of the pyrotechnic objects In the end, however, there were always particularly high fines.
Dresden accepted a fine of 300,000 euros
Dynamo Dresden had to pay a fine of 300,000 euros after the riots in the relegation second leg against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, which is a considerable amount after being relegated to the 3rd division. However, Dresden did not complain and accepted the punishment. “There has to be a rethink”said Dresden’s managing director Jürgen Wehlend.
This was contradicted by the “Black and Yellow Help”, which supports Dynamo fans with problems with the police and the judiciary. “These forms of sanctions continue to fuel conflicts between fan scenes and the DFB. Existing problems are not solved by ever increasing sums, but continue to worsen.” The discussion about sanctioning the clubs had completely stalled the corona crisis – several clubs could now start them again with the DFB.