“There is a very active ultra-scene and they are quite progressive on homophobia and racism,” he said, issues that unite ultra factions. “But as far as I know, they are not part of the broader fan organizations. They are not connected because they are not really accepted. “
Mucki realizes that for many he is an impossible contradiction: someone who could be seen as RB Leipzig ultra. The emotions generated by the team’s victory are real, but his relationship with his club is complex and complex. “The bond I have with the team is a love-hate relationship,” he said.
Mucki and his colleagues are of course aware of how their team is seen by their colleagues across the country. Although he quickly points out that “only a few clubs are not global companies” – even Dortmund sold the naming rights to its stadium – he does not hide behind allegations of hypocrisy. “I understand the points they make,” he said. “But these things are easy to point out. We’re trying to change them. “
You have had some success. He believes that Red Aces have been instrumental in helping the club create an “open-minded, tolerant” environment in which to support refugees and hold demonstrations against Pegida, the Islamophobic group that first became known in Dresden before it spread to Germany. were staged.
However, earlier this year, Red Aces broke up. In some cases, Mucki said, its members are “tired”, not of external hostility but of resistance from the club itself. “They want an organized fan culture, but they don’t want it to be critical,” he said. “They want us to be involved in certain processes – we have been invited to give our views on the redesign of the stadium – but with others they have tried to keep us down.”
This is a particular problem when it is not just about pyrotechnics – the club has issued statements in which fireworks are condemned “within minutes” – but about anything that could be considered political. Oliver Mintzlaff, head of soccer at Red Bull, has said publicly that he doesn’t believe that sport and politics should mix, an idea that is anathema to the organized German fan scene.
