According to referee Patrick Ittrich, the 2nd Bundesliga game between Hannover 96 and SpVgg Greuther Fürth was “very close” to being canceled due to fan protests. “That was final,” said the 45-year-old in an interview on Sky after the game.
Communication with everyone involved on and off the field was good. “And yet you always have in the back of your mind: What if this happens now? What if this happens now? You don’t want that. We have a great product here, everyone is up for it and we have to take everyone with us. That’s why I’m trying “I want to do it in such a way that we can all finish the game. But if it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work and maybe you have to make that decision at some point,” said Ittrich.
Ittrich calls for a quick solution to the conflict
The second division game in Hanover was interrupted several times after tennis balls were thrown by Hanover fans. In the meantime, Ittrich had brought both teams off the field and sent them to the dressing rooms. The supporters have been protesting for weeks against the entry of investors into the German Football League. There was a narrow majority in the vote, with the focus in particular on the unknown voting behavior of Hanover’s majority shareholder Martin Kind.
Ittrich called for a quick solution to the conflict, also to free the referees from the dilemma of a possible game being abandoned. “In the end, we are the ones who execute. But the decisions have to be made somewhere else. You finally have to find a consensus. Everyone has to come together and discuss something sensible with everyone so that at some point we can play 90 minutes of football consistently. There is great dissatisfaction and things cannot continue like this,” said the referee.