(new: protest actions in Freiburg and Bochum)
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – On Sunday it was no longer just tennis balls flying, or remote-controlled toy cars with smoke flares creating a deceptive spectacle. In the second division game between 1. FC Nürnberg and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, numerous fans ran into the interior of the stadium with banners. Only with great effort and the use of stewards and police could the game be stopped. It would have been the first during the protests against the German Football League, which has come under massive pressure, and its investor plans, because of which more and more clubs are vehemently calling for intervention. One way or another.
At the weekend, the second division club FC Schalke 04 and Darmstadt 98 were added to the clubs that questioned the vote for negotiations with the so-called strategic partner. DFL executive committee member Axel Hellmann opened the door a little on Saturday evening: “If a new motion is brought to the general meeting to vote on the matter again, we will have to deal with it.” Specifically, 1. FC Cologne has announced exactly this step.
Doubts, objections – new vote?
“First and foremost, our aim is to ensure legal certainty and acceptance,” FC managing director Christian Keller told the “Geissblog” on Sunday. All suspicions must be “completely eliminated.” What is meant is the still unclear voting behavior of Martin Kind, who could have voted against the instructions of the main club of Hannover 96. Exactly the required two-thirds majority voted in a secret election for the DFL executive team to take the historic step. Schalke asked for “transparency and clarity” at the weekend.
According to the DFL statutes, the executive board is obliged to call an extraordinary general meeting “if at least ten” clubs submit applications for it. After offensive press releases and requests to speak, several clubs would have to come out of cover. On Saturday evening in ZDF’s “Sportstudio”, DFB managing director Andreas Rettig expressed understanding for “the excitement on the fan side” when it comes to the subject of children. In his opinion, it was a violation of the 50+1 rule if the child did not follow the Hannover instructions.
Criticism of the DFL
There is therefore hardly anything to be gained for the DFL. The 50+1 rule, which basically prevents investors from taking over clubs, is sacred in German football – and especially for fans. There is particular aversion to investors in the curves, which again caused half-hour interruptions across the country at the weekend. The current protest far exceeds arguments of the past, for example over pyrotechnics or kick-off times.
On Sunday, two remote-controlled aircraft caused an interruption in the Bundesliga game between SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt. There were also delays in FC Bayern Munich’s game at VfL Bochum due to tennis balls being thrown. In addition, both fan groups protested against the investor candidate CVC with sometimes bold posters.
“It’s starting to tip over at the moment,” said Rettig – in quite an understatement. The managing director of the DFB, which has always been lumped together with the DFL when it comes to protests and obscene chants, used the train drivers’ union’s industrial dispute with Deutsche Bahn as a “somewhat” appropriate example, in which things would only progress if everyone “come to the table”.
The fan scenes, which cannot be reduced to one voice across the clubs and leagues, have been protesting since the end of last year because the DFL wants to receive one billion euros from a financial investor for a percentage share of the TV revenue. Only the private equity company CVC is still in the running. “I think it’s a bit of a test of strength, which I really regret,” said sports director Christian Heidel from FSV Mainz 05 after the long interruptions in the game against FC Augsburg. In Rostock, during Hansa’s game against Hamburger SV, the toy cars briefly drove on the lawn and bathed parts of the stadium in blue and white smoke.
That’s what the DFL leadership says
The still relatively new DFL managing directors Marc Lenz and Steffen Merkel made another attempt to advertise and explain in a detailed interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Saturday. And a little bit of admonition. “It’s okay if week after week we are reminded peacefully and proportionately how important it is to stay within the red lines in the negotiations. But if you raise the issue of possible game cancellations: the clubs and we could not accept that,” said Lenz.
If a game is canceled, a lot of money is at stake – the product has been sold to TV companies for a lot of money, and a cancellation reduces the value. It is still completely unclear how much the responsible DFB will use to sanction disruptions involving tennis balls or remote-controlled cars.
The professionals want to play
In addition to the voices calling for negotiations, there are now more and more people criticizing protesting in this form. “The fans are the soul of the game – without question,” said coach Alexander Zorniger from SpVgg Greuther Fürth: “But they are not the heart of the game. And the heart, which is currently experiencing acute cardiac arrhythmias. Because you are simply no longer focused . A non-professional athlete can’t imagine the impact it has when you keep starting and stopping again and again.”
In Dortmund, BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl said that things could not continue as they are now. “It’s not fun for many spectators in the stadium, nor for the players – and the game suffers because of it.” BVB captain Emre Can confirmed this: “We are suffering extremely from it and are losing our rhythm. That’s why I hope it will end soon.”/mj/DP/he