The hope was already low anyway, now it is finally clear that the U23 of SV Werder Bremen relegated from the Regionalliga Nord. This is the result of a verdict by the sports court of the North German Football Association. The NFV justiciaries evaluated last Saturday The game between Bremer SV and Teutonia 05 Ottensen was canceled when the score was 1:2 5-0 in favor of the hosts, which means that they can now fight to stay in the fourth division in the relegation that begins on Wednesday.
The game at Panzenberg ended prematurely because a Teuton player felt racially insulted by an opponent after 40 minutes and his entire team then made their way into the dressing room. Bremen then emphatically rejected the accusation of racism, the referee and his assistants had not noticed any abuse on the field. It was statement against statement.
The NFV justified the current verdict by saying that it could not be properly proven whether there really was a verbal lapse. “Racism and discrimination have no place anywhere in the Regionalliga Nord or anywhere else and are strongly condemned by the North German Football Association,” emphasized those responsible. “The punishment and punishment of such offenses is, however, a matter for the arbitration and sports courts. However, the referee never stopped the game. According to his description, after consultation with the players involved, the captains and those responsible, an attempt was made to continue the game After this was unsuccessful, the club FC Teutonia decided on its own to leave the facility with the team and all other responsible persons, so that the game could not continue.” Consequently, the points now went to the Bremer SV – whereby the city rivals in the table passed the U23 of SV Werder Bremen and the green-whites slipped into the Bremen league.
For Werder’s youth work, a crash in the fifth division is a disaster
“Relegation at the green table is of course very disappointing,” Werder’s sports director Frank Baumann is quoted as saying in a club statement. The 47-year-old also found the blame in his own house: “However, we cannot be satisfied with our performance during the season. We will approach the situation in the Bremen league with all due respect. Of course we will set up the squad differently and see what offers the best development opportunities for the individual players.
For Werder’s youth work, the fall into the fifth division is a sporting catastrophe, especially with regard to the development of prospective players for the Bundesliga professional squad. Shortly before the end of the season, the club parted ways with U23 coach Konrad Fünfstück, and ex-professional Christian Brand sat on the bench in the final sprint. But it didn’t help. The final game at 1. FC Phönix Lübeck was lost 2-3 in injury time, although Werder had led 2-1 in the 88th minute and could have avoided the worst-case scenario themselves.
There are already initial ideas as to how the U23 could continue. Consideration is being given to “playing high-quality test matches in addition to normal game operations in order to enable the players to have competitive practice at a high level and to also give players from the professional team appropriate match practice,” the club said.