Sunday afternoon in the Volkspark was marked by Steffen Baumgart’s debut against SV Elversberg (1-0) – and by a great choreography against the Hamburg police. HSV officially responded to this on Monday.
The choreography by HSV supporters before the home game against SV Elversberg has an aftermath. IMAGO/Soccer News Saarland
Two banners were displayed large on the north stand as the two teams arrived. “Never a friend and helper,” was written on one, “All of Hamburg hates the police” on the other. The letter combination “ACAB” was shown. A reaction from the active fan scene to the previous weekend.
The police held a regional train at Bergedorf station with over 800 HSV fans on the way back from the away game in Rostock for six hours. It was an operation that was strongly condemned by the fan organizations, but was considered a success by the police, as 31 suspected violent perpetrators were identified from a clash with Dortmund supporters in September. The price for this: hundreds of uninvolved supporters were affected on the train on Saturday a week ago.
The HSV made it clear on Monday morning that it was “a choreography of an ultra group that we were not previously aware of”. The official statement continues: “We, HSV Fußball AG and the Executive Board of HSV eV, distance ourselves clearly from this choreography. Our living room, the Volksparkstadion, is no place for hate messages and no place for blanket condemnations of people and professional groups. We as HSV stand for togetherness, for exchange – sometimes controversially – and for respectful interaction.”
It is clear that Sunday’s incident will require a review and that it will not just be a statement. “We will enter into a very critical internal dialogue with the authors of this choreography,” the club announced in its statement, “we will continue to choose a confidential and intensive exchange with the police and authorities and we will internally deal with such an inappropriate choreo could be published in our stadium and why this approach involved many bystanders as participants without their knowledge.” Sebastian Wolff