Managing director Martin Kind of Hannover 96 announced consequences in a first short statement after escalating fan protests, including crosshair banners and his face in the middle. “I don’t want to comment on that now. There will be reactions. End,” said the football official to the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”. “The important thing is that you have to decide something,” emphasized the 79-year-old, without first going into details.
Hamburger SV’s second division game against Hannover 96 (3:4) had a break of more than 30 minutes in the second half on Friday evening before it was called off by referee Sören due to protests against the planned entry of an investor into the German Football League Storks confessed. In the guest block there were also three banners with portraits and a crosshair each – including the head of 96 managing director Kind.
“Crosshair posters are an absurdity, that doesn’t work, we don’t have to talk about it,” 96 sports director Marcus Mann criticized on the TV channel Sky. HSV supporters had also attached heavy bicycle locks to the posts of a gate. These could only be removed using a cut-off machine. Objects were also thrown onto the field.
“We love this sport too”
Coach Stefan Leitl from Hannover 96 criticized the protests. “We always hear that football belongs to the fans. But football also belongs to us footballers. And we love this sport too,” he said. “That’s why we should be allowed to play. Fair protest is okay. Please no longer do anything else in our stadiums.” Sports director Marcus Mann had previously warned of an escalation. “Of course things cannot and must not continue as they are at the moment. The mood in the stadium threatens to change at some point,” he told the TV channel Sky after the game.
The trigger was three banners in the block of 96 fans with portraits of Hannover’s professional managing director Kind as well as the German head of CVC Capitals, Alexander Dibelius, and Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman. All portraits were marked with a crosshair. Kind is alleged to have voted for an investor to join the DFL in December and thus against the wishes of those responsible for the club. He himself never said how he voted. CVC and Blackstone are considered the DFL’s last investor candidates.
The banners in the stands of the Volksparkstadion ensured that the referee sent the teams into the catacombs after about an hour of play. In addition, the 96 supporters had displayed banners with the inscriptions “CVC & Blackstone puppets of Saudi Arabia’s sportswashing”, “Consistent action in the face of personalized threats of violence” and “Game interruption now”.
“I will go along with raising my voice and protesting to the extent that it is permitted. I distance myself from what happened today and we distance ourselves completely,” said Leitl. “That has no place in a football stadium.” The start of the second half had already been delayed due to the installation of the bicycle locks. In the past few weeks, the fan protest was mainly reflected in a boycott in the first twelve minutes of the game as well as in the throwing of tennis balls and, for example, chocolate coins.
“It’s not that cool”
There were also protests at the Bundesliga game between Borussia Dortmund and SC Freiburg on Friday evening. National player Niclas Füllkrug showed understanding, but criticized the interruptions in the game that this caused. “It’s important to stay relaxed and not let it get to you. You get upset for a moment. Of course, I can understand the fans wanting to use the stage in the stadium to express their opinions. Whether it is right or wrong remains to be seen,” said the Dortmund attacker after his team’s 3-0 win at DAZN. “It’s not so cool if you’re interrupted multiple times. You get cold. That’s not ideal for the muscles.”
The game was interrupted for a few minutes both in the first half and after the break because fans from both camps threw tennis balls and chocolate chips onto the grass. Similar to Füllkrug, Sebastian Kehl also pointed out the unpleasant aspects of the protests for the professionals. “These themes have been around for a few games. But I would like to talk about sports. That’s important to me. It’s unpleasant for the player to be on the pitch for ten minutes in such a phase and lose his rhythm.”
Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: Recommendations: 6 A comment from Michael Wittershagen Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 14 A comment from Peter Penders Published/Updated: Recommendations: 9 Daniel Theweleit, Cologne Published/Updated:
There have been protests against the DFL plans from the active fan scenes for months. A financial investor is to pay the DFL one billion euros for a percentage share of the TV revenue. In the final vote of the 36 professional clubs for the billion-dollar deal in December, the necessary two-thirds majority was only barely achieved. Recently there were calls from some clubs to have another vote on the entry of an investor.