Dhe tears had not yet dried when Fabian Klos came to the TV interview. At Sky he remembered the “blood, sweat and broken bones” that shaped his time at Arminia Bielefeld. Well, he said after the 0:4 (0:1) in the relegation first leg at third division club SV Wehen Wiesbaden, which was overshadowed by fan riots, “I’ve finally arrived where I started twelve years ago. Except that the atmosphere is even worse than it was back then.”
Already during the game, chaotic people masked as Arminia fans with rockets and firecrackers caused a 20-minute interruption, after the final whistle firecrackers flew again. They burned countless holes in the lawn, clouds of smoke drifted through the stadium in Wiesbaden. Klos, who has been playing for Arminia since 2011, has experienced rises and suffered low blows, persuaded the angry supporters.
It was “incredibly difficult”, he reported: “The fans react to what this so-called team has brought to the pitch. The thing is done. Good footballers don’t make a good team.” After the past two weeks, one “rightly had to deny the character of the team.”
He “can’t say what I think and feel because I’m the captain of this team,” said Klos: “I won’t stand in front of this team. How could I do that?” After all, he was “authentic” – but he also wanted to go into the 3rd division: “I don’t stop like that. It’s my club.”
Arminia apologized “for what was happening on and off the pitch” and announced that it would “work through everything thoroughly and then classify it after knowing all the events”.
“I don’t want a ghost game”
After the 0:4 debacle at 1. FC Magdeburg on the last matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga, the Bielefeld team decided as a gesture to donate the tickets for the relegation game in Wiesbaden to the fans. You want to close ranks with the supporters, said Klos. Because only together you can do it – the good wishes then went up in chaos and flames.
“Honestly, I was scared,” said Benedict Hollerbach, who scored the 3-0 in Wiesbaden (60′). Ivan Prtajin (6th), Johannes Wurtz (50th) and John Iredale (82nd) also scored. Before the second leg in Bielefeld, Wiesbaden coach Markus Kauczinski is “not afraid” of repeated riots: “We have to stay true to ourselves and focus.”
Despite all the incidents, he spoke out against harsh punishment for East Westphalia. “I have no interest in an empty stadium. I don’t want a ghost game,” said the 53-year-old with a view to the second leg next Tuesday (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the second Bundesliga, on Sat.1 and Sky). However, he called on those responsible at Arminia to work with the fans to ensure that the game was carried out safely.
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