Football – fight in Frankfurt: Union Berlin against the DFB and Eintracht

It can hardly get worse. This is currently the only positive thing at 1. FC Union. Anyone who had hoped that the Berliners had arrived at the low point with the disastrous 0: 6 in Dortmund had to rub their eyes in the old forestry last Sunday. A week after the highest defeat in her Bundesliga history, a single goal was enough to put the whole of Köpenick in shock rigid. The promoters from Holstein Kiel-who traveled as the bottom of the table, worst away team and with most goals-celebrated their first Bundesliga victory abroad with the 1-0.

Irritating trainer

In any case, it will not be easier for Union in the coming weeks: after the guest performance this Sunday at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich, SC Freiburg and VfL Wolfsburg as well as Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart are also only waiting for opponents, all of whom are still playing for European starting places. At least irritating, the defiant announcement by Coach Steffen Baumgart appeared: “The fact is: We will continue to play in the way.” The fact is: The trend reversal hoped for with the change of coach led in the wrong direction. Baumgart only needed nine games for six defeats, predecessor Bo Svensson at least 15.

“Now even more so!” With these words, Rani Khedira described the attitude of the team against Kiel. The vice captain did not speak of reparation for the embarrassment at Borussia. Another defeat should bring additional motivation. Last Friday, the Federal Supreme Court of the German Football Association (DFB) confirmed the judgment of the association’s sports court: The 1-1 of December 14th between the Union and Bochum, including the lighter throw from the Berlin fan block on VfL goalkeeper Patrick Drewes, is evaluated 2-0 for Bochum.

The case is over for the association. At least all of his legal authorities have gone through. “The DFB will no longer comment on the topic,” it said on “ND” demand in a message from the Frankfurt headquarters, in which the independence of the “sports jurisdiction of the DFB” was emphasized again. Why, it is not clear. In any case, this reference was not to be understood in response to questions asked. Unless the association sees this statement as inviolable as Article 1 of the Basic Law with its eternity guarantee.

precedent

Now others will have to answer these questions. The most important thing: Why was a precedent created with the judgments? This is exactly what both legal organs of the DFB did. So far, the decision has been made according to the simple and logical rule: If a game is regularly ended by the referee, either the final score or, as has already been practiced in the past, a repetition game is set. If a game cannot be completed, a rating about the exit decides. The near future will show whether something is really changing: The 1. FC Union brings this case to the constant arbitration tribunal – and announced that it also examines the possibility of initiating civil law steps.

Announcements to have ordinary dishes decided, also made the DFB look bad, as in the case of the controversial license allocation to Leipzig. Sports jurisdiction is not only on shaky feet in football. Everywhere it is usually the big topics that are negotiated in such cases. Even now: According to both judgments, Union President Dirk Zingler made it clear what he thought is at stake: “The integrity of the competition”.

Anti -social behavior

The 1. FC Union sees the original misconduct at VfL Bochum, because the club, whose goalkeeper could not continue to play at least one or the other after the lighter, despite joint agreements with opponent and referee to regularly end the game later. So VfL wants to get an advantage. And at the expense of third parties: Holstein Kiel and FC St. Pauli, Bochum’s competitors in the fight against relegation, also appealed. At the legal level, the Berliners argue with good arguments, unfortunately they have disqualified morally. There is still no excuse for the lighter throw. Why not? “We can’t apologize for another person,” said Union. Yes, the club does not want to be liable for something that it cannot prevent. A little more confident and, above all, he can already behave a little more confidently and, above all, when he describes “the throwing of objects on the lawn” himself as “anti -social”.

“Today we were witness to a procedure in which the misconduct of a viewer for the first time led to a game conversion,” said Dirk Zingler after the negotiation before the DFB Federal Court. That is correct – and can have fatal consequences. So in the future any fan from some block can throw anything on any footballer – and so specifically determine the result? At the same time, the judgment weakens the impartial massive: will every factual decision be questioned and contested afterwards? In any case, the authority of the referee, which is often enough, is not strengthened.

No solidarity

One day after the judgment of the DFB Federal Court, Union went with a detailed Explanation of the Presidium Again on the offensive to “present our position as differentiated as possible and to make the processes understandable to humans who themselves did not take part in the negotiation,” as the association “ND” announced. Even if the statement is the same, the explanations are interesting in any case. The Köpenickers are consciously looking for the public, because despite the great relevance of this topic, support and solidarity have so far been limited by other clubs.

Perhaps the club is also looking for a different, more critical public – the active fans. The successful fight against an investor at the German Football League showed how effective protests in the stadiums can be. In addition to other questionable sanction practices of the DFB, the association is now also trying to punish fan behavior in a questionable way. “The revaluation of sporting results to punish the misconduct of spectators or from a general -preventive motivation is a false and dangerous approach,” criticizes the 1. FC Union. Whether they are such convincing arguments or just self -doubt: the DFB apparently wants as little public as possible. After all, the negotiation before the DFB Federal Court was public that everyone could have “listened”, the association “ND” said. There was a hearing how Anton Nachreiner asked “a fundamental decision”-as chairman of the DFB control wage. That is probably what makes the 1. FC Union speak of a “politically” motivated judgment.

The DFB may have caused damage to its controversial sports jurisdiction itself. Dirk Zingler wants to draw a line, at least for now. Union President demands full focus on football to “relegate relegation on the lawn”. Nothing more difficult than that – like almost all previous games under coach Baumgart and the upcoming opponents. And as Rani Khedira’s words mentioned at the beginning, after the game against Kiel, the hustle and bustle also influences the footballers around it.