By Carsten Priefer, Paul Gorgas, Konstantin Marrach and Roberto Lamprecht
Now it’s official! The suspended goalkeeper Marius Gersbeck (28) is pardoned and taken back into team training.
In a press release, the second division club from Berlin wrote on Monday evening: “After the Salzburg regional court dropped the proceedings against Marius Gersbeck, Hertha BSC is lifting the suspension of the 28-year-old. The goalkeeper will return to team training during the international break and will train again with head coach Pal Dardai’s professional squad. This gives the Berlin native a second chance. From now on, however, strict rules of conduct in public and private life will apply to our goalkeeper and he will be severely sanctioned.”
► For the first time, Gersbeck himself comments in the announcement! He is quoted: “I realize that I have made a huge mistake. (…) I’m not a bad person and, above all, I’m not the unreflective, beating goalkeeper who doesn’t care about those around him or those around him. I am a family man, husband, friend and proud employee of the club I grew up with.”
And Gersbeck announces that he will speak to the fans himself: “That’s why I would like to say a few words to you personally at the general meeting. Of course, I can also assess my sporting situation very well at the moment. But now I’m looking forward and I’m grateful and humbled at the same time that I can return to team training as a Hertha player. You can judge me by these words in the future and I hope you give me the chance to do so.”
Hertha goalkeeper Marius Gersbeck (M.) in court Photo: Konstantin Marrach
► Managing Director Thomas Herrich (59) also explains in the statement: “Marius has also shown insight and remorse towards us as a club, but we continue to condemn his off-duty misconduct in the strongest terms and, of course, have never lost sight of the fact that the injured party suffered serious injuries (… ).”
Herrich continues: “Marius gets a second chance. His suspension is lifted, but he receives a warning and a hefty fine from the club. In the foreseeable future, Marius will again take part in the training of the licensed team under certain conditions. In addition, Marius has committed himself to becoming socially active from now on in order to pass on his experiences from this misconduct.”
Gersbeck is pardoned. A decision that not all committee members in the club welcome. Opinions are divided. But with President Kay Bernstein (43) and managing director Herrich, Gersbeck had the most important people behind him.
The decision for Gersbeck was not unanimous
On the Saturday evening before Hertha’s home game against St. Pauli (1:2), Herrich declared openly on the Sky microphone: “We will now discuss with the committees at the weekend how we will deal with it. We haven’t made a decision yet. We will announce the decision at the beginning of the week. There is no right or wrong, it’s a very thin line. This isn’t about personal opinions, this is about Hertha BSC. There is no question that Marius made a mistake.”
A huge mistake that the Hertha management has now forgiven him for!
Last Thursday, Gersbeck had to stand trial in Salzburg on charges of serious bodily harm because he seriously injured a local man (22) in the face with a punch and kick during an unauthorized nighttime excursion on the sidelines of the training camp in Austria in July.
Before the trial, he had already reached a civil agreement with the victim to pay six-figure compensation for pain and suffering. And as part of a so-called diversion, the proceedings in court also ended. The Hertha goalkeeper paid 40,000 euros to the state treasury directly on site and is now neither convicted nor acquitted.
The main sponsor also comments on the Gersbeck case for the first time
Mario Hoffmeister, spokesman for Gauselmann AG, to which CrazyBuzzer also belongs, to BZ: “The crime mentioned was tried before a regular court and was concluded with a corresponding verdict. That is to be respected. All measures taken by Hertha BSC are exclusively internal matters for the club.”
Gersbeck, who has been suspended since the middle and only completed individual training, is now returning to professional training during the international break! It’s exciting to see what’s next for him in terms of sport.
Because Tjark Ernst (20) has now impressed as the new number 1 in the box and doesn’t want to give up the place in goal voluntarily. Ernst: “I see it so clearly that I am number 1. Pal Dardai has already clearly communicated that I am number 1 here. So I assume I will stay that way.”
So it will be exciting! In the future, all eyes will be focused on Marius Gersbeck…