OPINION
Bundesliga
Are the fan protests annoying? Good this way!
Situation of the league: More tennis balls than footballs in the game (symbolic image from Stuttgart)
© Sebastian Widmann / Getty Images
The fan protests against the DFL investor entry continued over the weekend. In several Bundesliga stadiums, games were sometimes interrupted for minutes. There is already great outrage. But the protest should actually be even bigger.
At the weekend, the now familiar scene: hundreds of tennis balls, bouncy balls and even camels (carnival!) lay on the lawn of the Bundesliga stadiums. “No to investors in the DFL” was the clear message on the banners in the fan curves. The games: some were interrupted for longer than 20 minutes. The game between Union Berlin and VfL Wolfsburg was about to be canceled, as was the game between Hertha BSC and Hamburg earlier this week SV, because objects were still flying onto the pitch after more than half an hour. Is that really the right form of protest? Does it have to be?
The answer is: yes! In fact, it has to be even more drastic!
Fan protests in the Bundesliga: They can only achieve something if they are annoying
Many club officials, experts and even “normal” fans rolled their eyes again in annoyance at the weekend. “Protest, yes, but please not like that,” was the tenor. If not like that, then how? Regardless of whether it is the interruptions in the Bundesliga, strikes by the GDL or the airport staff: demonstrations and protests are approved until they actually have an impact on one’s own life. Then it quickly becomes clear that other ways have to be found to express one’s opinion.
In other words: Feel free to protest, it’s your right – democracy and so on. But please do so within the framework of the usual procedures and in such a way that it doesn’t bother anyone.
Anyone who argues like this has not understood the principle of protest. Only if protests are annoying can they achieve anything. Accordingly, the disruptive actions should actually get bigger – until the DFL finally takes the curves seriously.
But what is all this about the tennis balls, the chants and the banners in the stadiums? The DFL members voted to bring additional money into the league and thus make it even more attractive. That’s great, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. The protests are now no longer just directed against outside capital that is supposed to flow into the Bundesliga “product” via an investor, they are also directed against the aloofness of the management levels in the clubs, against a lack of transparency and the fans’ lack of a say.
What remains in the standing room is: “We don’t care about you fans”
The process surrounding the investor entry can only infuriate every football fan, and actually every Democrat. Because what’s left of this unspeakable theater is the following impression: A few rich league bigwigs wanted to pump fresh money into the league in order to earn even more. A vote was scheduled (which was also already accompanied by protests). The clubs voted against an investor. The fan curve was pacified. Only to then simply schedule a second vote, which led to a positive outcome.
So what remains in the standing room is: “We don’t care about you fans, we don’t care about your reasons against the investor and if the vote doesn’t go the way we imagine, then we’ll vote until it suits us.” Football belongs to the fans – as long as they buy the current jersey, buy a season ticket and make the Bundesliga “product” better with beautiful choreographies. When it comes to really important issues, the common rank and file should please keep quiet.
As long as the DFL cannot resolve this impression, there will be no agreement. Those responsible should occasionally remind themselves of who they are antagonizing. The fans are the branch on which this sport sits. Without the atmosphere, the choreos and the support of ordinary people, the Bundesliga is a desolate event. Even an injection of billions from an investor wouldn’t change that. Maybe the DFL officials should go to a football game again like 99 percent of fans do: not in the VIP box, but in a simple seat in the stadium, in rain, drafts, beer and bratwurst and with normal people around them .
Maybe then they would understand what fans really want when they visit the stadium. Maybe they would understand why fans don’t want their stadium to become a “consumption temple” where the only goal is to make more and more money. Maybe they would understand that the active fan scene in particular represents clear principles and why they don’t want money from a private equity fund that comes from Saudi Arabia. Maybe some people would come to the realization that you don’t bite the hand that feeds you. But as long as that doesn’t happen, the curve’s only option is to grab a tennis ball.