The Hamburgers appealed against the verdict and traveled to Frankfurt am Main with sports director Claus Costa, club director Philipp Winter and Otele himself for an oral appeal hearing. However, the objection was rejected there.
Former striker speaks openly about his failure at HSV
On Saturday evening (6.30 p.m./Sky) HSV welcomes TSG Hoffenheim. Sven Schipplock knows both clubs well: in 2015, the striker from Kraichgau moved to Hamburg. While he enjoyed his most successful time at TSG, his career stalled in Hamburg.
In an interview with HSV.de, the 37-year-old openly admits that he misjudged: “I thought I was a match for the club with its force and everything else.” In particular, dealing with criticism hit him harder than expected. “It was a misjudgment on my part that the criticism from outside wouldn’t affect me so much.”
The decisive factor was the increasing pressure. “For the first time I started to doubt myself. That was the breaking point.” In Hamburg he was heavily reduced to goals, missed opportunities and became “totally mental”. He was no longer able to play freely after that.
After 32 appearances without a goal and a temporary loan to Darmstadt, Schipplock left HSV for Arminia Bielefeld on a free transfer in 2018. In 2023, the striker ended his career with VfB Stuttgart’s U23 team.
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Polzin clarifies: Is Luka Vuskovic fit again?
Luka Vuskovic has been missing from HSV’s relegation battle for almost three weeks. The 19-year-old will be sorely missed – without him there were two significant defeats with seven goals conceded. Even on Saturday, when HSV meets TSG Hoffenheim at home (6.30 p.m./Sky), Vuskovic cannot be on the pitch.
Coach Merlin Polzin confirmed the Croatian high-flyer’s failure at the press conference on Thursday. “Luka is without a doubt an absolute top player. But there’s no point in mourning it or being sad,” he said.
Miro Muheim is also out due to his ankle injury. Captain Yussuf Poulsen is also still missing. Winger Philip Otele has to take a break in the northern derby due to his red card suspension. However, there is good news from Albert Sambi Lokonga: the midfielder will return and be back in the squad.
New fan model should bring millions for stadium expansion
Hamburger SV wants to push ahead with the expansion of the Volksparkstadion and is specifically involving its supporters. In the future, fans will be able to purchase shares through a new cooperative called “Supporters Trust” in order to finance infrastructure projects around the stadium.
Plans include, among other things, additional spaces, better sanitary facilities and optimizations in catering and visibility. The foundation is scheduled for May 5th. The capacity of the stadium is expected to increase to over 60,000. You can read more details about this here.
