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Racism gossip: The haunting message from Osnabrück’s manager

EThere was agreement at the moment of the uproar. Together with the shocked Aaron Opoku, the players of VfL Osnabrück and MSV Duisburg left the field together. A little later, the fans of both clubs started shouting “Nazis out”, and the stadium directors played the anti-fascism song “Scream for Love”. On this memorable Sunday afternoon, a racism scandal led to the game being abandoned in the top three German football leagues for the first time.

“We mustn’t accept that in football and in society,” said VfL managing director Michael Welling at Magenta TV. However, he classified the excess as a problem for society as a whole and not just for football. “It’s important that we don’t talk about VfL Osnabrück or MSV Duisburg at this point. It is that we must address this societal problem as a whole and also fight it. That is why it was so important to set an example here and show solidarity with our player, ”Welling told the club’s VfL TV.

That is “not a location problem. That could possibly have happened in Osnabrück or at any other location in Germany. So it was important to show that we don’t just want to print anti-racism on T-shirts. It is also important to act if you take it seriously ”.

Great solidarity with Opoku and VfL Osnabrück

There was support for the affected Osnabrück striker Opoku from numerous other clubs in Germany. Numerous clubs such as Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha BSC or FSV Mainz 05 joined a tweet from VfL Osnabrück with the title “Aaron, we stand behind you!”. “Racism sucks. Everywhere! ”Wrote Hoffenheim in 1899. At SV Werder Bremen one could read: “Clear edge against racism!”

1. FC Köln thanked both clubs for the cancellation before their game on Sunday evening against VfB Stuttgart (1-0). The Cologne team posted a photo of their striker Anthony Modeste on Twitter, who applauded. The FC attacker had made offensive posts against himself on social media at the end of November.

The Duisburg police reported the insult against a 55-year-old suspect who, according to their statements, was questioned as well as witnesses on Sunday. According to MSV spokesman Martin Haltermann, the accused fan could be quickly identified with the help of other viewers.

Osnabrück’s managing director Welling said: “We also have to be grateful for the many fans of the MSV who reacted as they did. The MSV identified the perpetrator through its fans. ”Welling reported that he agreed with the“ Duisburg colleagues that we would like it to be repeated ”. The DFB sports court will decide on the evaluation of the game at a later date, according to a statement from the association on Sunday evening. The control committee of the German Football Association will investigate the incident in any case.

Osnabrück’s managing director Michael Welling

Source: Getty Images / Christof Koepsel

Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is hoping for “the full rigor of justice” for the perpetrator. In the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” he praised the reactions to the incident in the Duisburg stadium as “a great and solidary reaction from the spectators and the two teams who said we would not continue playing”.

After 34 minutes, Opoku (22) ran towards the corner flag when the score was 0-0. Referee Nicolas Winter had heard monkey sounds like other participants, he ended the game after a break. “When the executing player wanted to run to the corner kick, monkey noises were called from the stands. He noticed that immediately, and so did my assistant. Both of them described the process to me and that is something that we are very sensitive to. And also react immediately, ”the courageous referee at MagentaSport reported.

With his determined demeanor, Winter can be seen as one of the heroes of this game. The 29-year-old said he tried to “take care of Opoku. I also saw how shocked he was. He wasn’t really receptive when I wanted to ask how he’s doing, what happened. “

Three different sports court judgments possible

The regulations of the DFB “in the case of discriminatory incidents of any form” usually provide for a three-step plan. Winter said: “We’ll have a stadium announcement made first, but Opoku was not at all responsive and the teams then went into the dressing room relatively quickly, so we had to skip this first stage of the interruption and go into the dressing room to see us first to take care of the player. We then went straight to the player in the dressing room and told him: We are there, we will protect him. “

In consultation with those responsible for the clubs and the captains, the team of referees gave both teams additional time to think about it. “We then got a message from VfL that they didn’t want to continue playing, which we of course accepted,” said Winter: “In times that are already dramatic, things like that are very dramatic. We’re going to write a special report. Then we’ll see what happens next. “

The sports court of the German Football Association can give three different judgments. Depending on the exact circumstances, the game could be rated for both Osnabrück and Duisburg. The third possible variant is a rescheduling, announced the sports court on Monday on request.

Decisive for the evaluation of the so far unique incident in the three German professional leagues are the statements of those involved. The DFB control committee had already started the investigation on Sunday and asked both clubs and referee Nicolas Winter to comment. Lying

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