Dispute over investor entry
Penalties due to fan protests: DFB does not count tennis balls
The amount of future penalties is not based on the number of tennis balls thrown. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
When will the first penalties come because of the fan protests in the Bundesliga and what will they be? What is certain is that the length of the game interruptions will play a major role.
The amount of the expected penalties DFB sports court for the Bundesliga clubs because of the fan protests against investors joining the German Football League will not be based on the number of projectiles thrown.
“No tennis balls, candies or anything similar are counted,” said a spokesman for the German Football Association in response to a dpa query. The duration of the game interruption is crucial for the legal consequences.
Many fans have been protesting in the stadiums for weeks, primarily by throwing objects, against the planned investor entry into the German Football League. Games are repeatedly interrupted by the referees because objects fly onto the lawn.
The DFL wants to collect one billion euros from a financial investor for a percentage share of the TV revenue. When the 36 professional clubs voted on the deal, the necessary two-thirds majority was only barely achieved.
No rush
The DFB does not see any particular urgency in dealing with the protests compared to other pending proceedings. The usual deadlines also apply here.
Sports jurisdiction as well as responsibility for refereeing lies with the DFB. While the lighting of the banned pyrotechnics and firecrackers in the stadiums is precisely counted using video recordings, this is different with the current protests.
The DFB provides a “multi-step approach” for guidance if the protests get out of hand. The crackdown is – compared to the three-stage plan, which also applies to crosshair posters – a little less strict and gives more room to avoid having to cancel the game. So far this season there has been no cancellation due to fan protests, but in some games this was only narrowly avoided.