At some point, the protagonist of the evening had flown through the Berlin Olympic Stadium so often that many people had no desire to meet him again after the game was over. It must be said that the Berlin Olympic Stadium is probably the coldest place in Germany that is not on the top of a mountain. Dark winter nights can feel very long in there. Especially when they last 32 minutes longer than intended.
When it had already become very dark and very cold, Hertha BSC’s press spokeswoman had made her peace with the protagonist of the evening. She had grabbed it outside and was now running with it through the catacombs, letting it slide from her right hand into her left hand, then back again. Actually, such a tennis ball is not a big thing: its diameter is between 6.54 and 7.3 centimeters and the weight is just over 50 grams.
What made it noticeable was its neon yellow signal color and the fact that it is rarely seen in football stadiums. Especially in this number: you have to manage to smuggle several hundred tennis balls into the stadium. Throwing them onto the field, as the Hertha fans did in Berlin’s Ostkurve for half an hour in protest against the DFL’s investor deal, is no longer so difficult. Some Hertha fans had brought special slingshots with which they shot the tennis balls onto the grass at impressive speed.
Berlin’s hopes of promotion are likely to have been dashed after the 1:2
In any case, Hertha’s press spokeswoman seemed – in contrast to many others who had previously booed and whistled because of the disturbance caused by the balls – to be almost happy to be able to take a copy home with them as a souvenir. She left the interview area with the felt bullet and had more in hand after the final whistle than her club managed on Saturday: Hertha lost 1:2 against Hamburger SV. If there were any last hopes for promotion among the Berliners, they are probably over.
Winning goal in the Olympic Stadium: HSV player Ludovit Reis (right) heads the 2-1 win against Hertha.
(Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
But it could now be expensive for the second division team, which is already badly damaged financially: The interruption that was triggered “was massively long and will result in a severe penalty,” said Hertha’s managing director Tom Herrich. The protest was “totally okay” for him. But the expression on his face was that of a man who has to confess to his wife about a less than successful evening at the casino.
It is surprising how much the protests against the German Football League’s investor deal have become more widespread, certainly also for the DFL itself. Chocolate coins were thrown onto the field, posters with content that was not particularly advertising-friendly were held up to cameras, minutes of silence were held, and so on chants of insults started. The protests had already started when the umbrella organization and its 36 clubs were still in negotiations about the possible entry of a “strategic partner” who would in future receive a share in the media revenue for 20 years in return for a three-digit million sum. The protests continued as evidence grew that the decisive pro-investor vote for the deal could have come from Hannover 96 managing director and investor Martin Kind, who thereby violated the instructions of his own parent club.
The protests went on and on. And now, on Saturday, they have reached a logical culmination point: HSV, HSV fans in particular believe, owes a lot of money to its investor Klaus-Michael Kühne, but also years of tugging and nagging and relegation. And Hertha, not only Hertha fans believe, has also become a case of restructuring thanks to the commitment of investor Lars Windhorst, which – like HSV – could possibly be in line for permanent membership in the lower house.
Differentiation undesirable: For many football fans, investors are just investors
Financiers in the German league association are something different than investors in clubs, especially since there are also serious and benevolent representatives of this species. But for many fans, investors are just investors. And how little appetite the organized part of the fan base in particular has for investors was evident during the top second division game that was broadcast at prime time.
The term “demonstration of force” is used in an inflationary and sometimes abusive manner when it comes to football and fans, but it was apt on Saturday. The fans demonstrated that they can bring the game to a standstill if they want to. Their smuggled reservoir of throwing equipment seemed almost inexhaustible.
When the protest began in the 51st minute, most people in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium thought it was an affair that wouldn’t last long. But the more time passed, the more people made diplomatic efforts. The stadium announcer who appealed to decency and reminded of the footballers’ instinct to play. The Hertha coach Pal Dardai, who uses his authority to negotiate a ceasefire with the authorities from the fan curve. The law enforcement officers, dressed in security jackets, removed the balls from the lawn, only for a few dozen to be there again a few seconds later. And finally the referee Daniel Schlager, who ordered the teams into the dressing room, as a “really last resort,” as he said afterwards. An abandonment of the game was “not far away”.
Negotiation with the fans: Hertha coach Pal Dardai tried to contain the protests. The yellow tennis balls are clearly visible on the blue tartan track.
(Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
Tennis balls flew in Berlin, bouncy balls flew in Heidenheim – but Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav was at least the one who tasted the protest at the weekend. During the 3-1 win against Freiburg, Undav tasted a chocolate coin thrown onto the pitch by protesters and was shocked to discover that it was dark chocolate. Undav prefers sweets with a higher milk content. It’s not out of the question that he’ll soon find what he’s looking for in a stadium.