At a summer football tournament for eight to nine-year-old children, violent clashes broke out between parents at the weekend. After the semi-final game between FT Gern and TSV Eintracht Karlsfeld, there were initially provocations and bullying at the host ESV Munich facility in Nymphenburg, which eventually culminated in physical attacks. At least two people are said to have been injured. After consultation, those responsible for game operations decided to cancel the tournament and no longer allow the final to be played.
What exactly happened on Sunday morning at the facility on Margarethe-Danzi-Straße is difficult to reconstruct afterwards. The statements are contradictory. An eyewitness spoke of at least 15 to 20 participants, the youth leader of the host ESV Munich, Christian Eberlein, of three to four. This also coincides with the internal report of a coach to TSV Eintracht Karlsfeld, which is available to the SZ. According to Eberlein, several people ran to separate the opponents, which may have looked like a major scuffle to other eyewitnesses.
A police spokesman said the argument was over when the police arrived. Rescuers and troublemakers were no longer in place. The integrated control center reported two injured fathers to the police after being hit, one of whom was dazed after a headbutt. So far, there have been no reports of bodily harm.
The incident caused great outrage. “I’ve rarely been so ashamed of adults,” says an eyewitness. It is frightening when parents set such a bad example in front of 80 to 100 children. Violence always comes from adults. Stephan Priewe, football youth leader at TSV Eintracht, said attacks on the sidelines are a growing phenomenon. In the form as on Sunday, however, he has not yet experienced it.
The FT Gern has since apologized to the tournament organizers and all uninvolved children and adults. Any form of violence is unacceptable on and off the soccer field. “The fact that children here had to experience their parents’ loss of control makes the matter all the more reprehensible.” TSV Eintracht has also expressed its regret to ESV. The clubs and the higher-level associations will now have to clarify whether and what aftermath there will be.