The tennis ball protests last weekend caused quite a stir. The actions raise eyebrows in the boardroom of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Tennis balls flew in Berlin and lemons in Elversberg. The fan protests in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga continue. Sometimes the fans are silent for twelve minutes, sometimes there are shouts of “Shit DFL”, sometimes the continuation of the game is blocked. However, Eintracht Frankfurt’s board spokesman Axel Hellmann criticized this.
“You can be against this process and against its content. You can also express this protest,” he said on Monday evening. But you also have to think it through and say: “Then I am ready to accept step by step in German football that what we can achieve will decline and we will lose touch in European competition.”
Hellmann criticized a “certain hypocrisy”. As an example, he cited the protest at the second division game Hertha BSC against Hamburger SV. “I am amazed that tennis balls are flying at a club that is sailing close to the wind when it comes to the issue of 50+1,” said Hellmann, who was interim managing director of the DFL last year.
The ultras of both teams, who protested at the weekend, were always very critical of the investor investments. For example, the banner “Hertha BSC against investors” is emblazoned above the Berlin East Curve at every home game. The active Berlin fan scene also presents the logo at away games.
In recent years, HSV supporters have also repeatedly criticized club patron Klaus-Michael Kühne. “Investors unwanted” or “Kühne, fuck off!” could already be read on banners in the fan curve.
“We must be careful not to fall into hypocrisy”
Hellmann defended the DFL investor deal on Monday: There was agreement among the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga that media production or digitalization were not up to date. “We are certainly a decade behind other professional leagues,” said Hellmann. This requires a billion euros in new capital. “Anyone who is afraid that this deal would increase the gap between rich and poor is ignoring reality. On the contrary, it enshrines the unity of the 36 clubs for 20 years,” explained the lawyer.
He also considers the accusation that the new investor is paying with Saudi money to be questionable. “If that is our benchmark, then please stop driving to the gas station, then please stop sitting in the living room with a gas heater,” Hellmann raged. “We must be careful not to fall into bigotry and hypocrisy.” He doesn’t understand why a small group is now spending energy on this “instead of watching how state power, police and democracy are being infiltrated by the right in our own country. We should use energy on that,” emphasized Hellmann.