VfB Stuttgart has admitted that during the violent clashes between stewards and fans at the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach on March 5, “individual stewards acted disproportionately.”
This was determined on the basis of the statement that the Bundesliga soccer club received from its security service provider. The company has already drawn personnel consequences from this, the VfB announced. The club and security company would again distance themselves “from the violence that can be seen in a video distributed on the Internet”.
After the game, footage circulated on the Internet that is said to show Stuttgart law enforcement officers beating the Gladbach fan block. The Stuttgart police are in the process of processing the incidents in which several people were injured. According to VfB, “witnesses and those involved are questioned and the available material is evaluated”.
The club and its security service provider attach “importance to the finding that the vast majority of the stewards have behaved prudently and appropriately according to all previous statements,” said VfB. “The reason for the use of the stewards were disputes within the Gladbach block. The stewards used initially intervened to de-escalate in an exemplary manner.”
When dealing with the incidents, the company shows “a maximum of professionalism and seriousness and cooperates with all responsible contact persons and departments”. All so-called mobile emergency services and executives would receive mandatory further training on de-escalation and how to deal with conflicts in the short term. In addition, VfB and the security company are already in talks about a mutual possible perpetrator-victim compensation between fans and the folders concerned.