PRedest, banners and human chain: Around 1,000 supporters of FC Schalke 04 demonstrated around the Veltins Arena against the chairman of the supervisory board Clemens Tönnies and the board of the Bundesliga club on Saturday. At the same time as the last Bundesliga season game of the team of coach David Wagner at SC Freiburg in the afternoon, which was lost with 0: 4, the fans formed a human chain on the Berger Feld club premises in compliance with the hygiene regulations.
The demonstration under the motto “Schalke is not a slaughterhouse – against the disassembly of our club” had previously been approved by the authorities under certain conditions. Up to 2000 people were allowed. According to organizer Stefan Barta, about 1200 fans came, the Gelsenkirchen police spoke of “significantly less”. Everything remained peaceful.
Among the protesters was the former professional Yves Eigenrauch, Uefa Cup winner from 1997. “As Schalke you have been ashamed lately. That no longer has anything to do with the buddy and painter club, ”said co-organizer Katharina Strohmeyer on Saturday. “We expect the management of the association to live our mission statement. If not, we need a fresh start. “
At several points, the Schalke fans had placed their messages on large banners. “Our board – a social and moral flop!”, They complained. “The biggest bulldozer doesn’t help anymore! Tönnies out! ”Was the clear demand elsewhere. The discussion initiated by Tönnies about the spin-off of the professional department into a commercial enterprise is also a horrible idea for the fans. They fear the influence of investors. “FC Schalke 04 eV is and remains an association – in the sense of the German association law!”, Stood at the “Thousand Friends Wall” right next to the arena entrance.
The meat entrepreneur from Rheda-Wiedenbrück is the main target of the protests. For days, the massive corona infections in the Tönnies factories and the much criticized accommodation and payment of the factory workers – mainly from Poland, Romania and Bulgaria – have been making negative headlines. But the executive board with Alexander Jobst and Jochen Schneider is also criticized for some undesirable developments, such as the dismissal of marginally employed people and the “hardship regulation” for ticket refunds.
As a result of the Corona outbreak, 640,000 people in the Westphalian districts of Warendorf and Gütersloh again had to put up with major restrictions in their public life, which caused great resentment among the population.
For many Schalke fans, the 64-year-old Tönnies, who has been chief of the supervisory board since 2001, is no longer sustainable because, in their opinion, it damages the reputation of the club. “If he loves the club, he should let go,” demanded Strohmeyer. The mood began to change last August when Tönnies came under pressure after statements that were perceived as racist against Africans.
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