Clubs react
The scandal overshadows the football duel in the regional league
Updated March 2, 2026 – 11:13 amReading time: 1 min.
The goalless draw between Kickers Offenbach and Stuttgarter Kickers in the Regionalliga Südwest fades into the background after racist insults.
After racist insults against Melkamu Frauendorf during the Stuttgarter Kickers’ away game against Kickers Offenbach, both clubs condemned the incident “in the strongest possible terms”. “Both clubs agree: racist behavior blatantly contradicts the values of football and has no place in our stadiums,” the clubs said in a joint statement.
According to the clubs, immediately after the end of the game there was “bad racist abuse from individual spectators” from the stands in the stadium on Bieberer Berg. The incident was reported immediately and is currently being investigated.
Professor Rainer Lorz, President of the Stuttgarter Kickers, made it clear in the statement: “We are shocked. We condemn these vile racist insults in the strongest possible terms. This has no place on any football pitch in the world. Melkamu Frauendorf has the full support of the entire club and the Kickers family.”
Offenbach’s President Joachim Wagner also made his statement clear. “Racist insults cannot be justified by anything and contradict the values of our club and sport as a whole. Kickers Offenbach stands for fairness, respect and diversity. We stand in solidarity with Melkamu Frauendorf,” he said. In addition, it is “extremely unfortunate” that “one or two individual people caused something like that.”
Both clubs emphasized that football depends on “diversity, community and mutual respect”. We will continue to communicate about the incident. The game ended 0-0, with the Swabians playing in the majority for 35 minutes.
