Rescheduling of the game in the form of a ghost game and fines for both clubs: The sports court of the Bavarian Football Association (BFV) came to this decision in the case of the regional league derby between Türkgücü Munich and FC Bayern Munich II, which was canceled on November 19th. “Of course it doesn’t matter what happened here,” emphasized Emanuel Beierlein, chairman of the BFV association sports court, when he announced his verdict on Friday evening. FC Bayern was sentenced to a fine of 3,000 euros for violating field discipline, and Türkgücü to 1,500 euros.
The incident was triggered by a “FC Bayern Fanclub Kurdistan” banner, which was rolled out in the FCB block and resulted in a police operation. The referee stopped the game after just one and a half minutes and didn’t start it again. BFV Managing Director Jürgen Igelspacher, who was there and was heard as a witness on Friday, spoke of an “extremely emotionally heated” situation.
The question that was the focus of the oral hearing at the Oberhaching sports school on Friday was: Why was the game canceled? According to the arguments of the Türkgücü side, represented by President Taskin Akkay and two lawyers, the behavior of Bayern fans by unrolling the banner, which provoked Türkgücü supporters due to its political explosiveness. The representatives of FC Bayern, chief legal officer Michael Gerlinger and youth coordinator Sebastian Dremmler, were of the opinion that the referee stopped the game under the impression of the police action.
The referee of the game, Simon Schreiner, who was connected via video, explained that a conversation between the police operations manager and the referee observer Josef Maier had persuaded him to stop because it was clear that the game could not be continued. From Maier’s point of view, the police officers who were standing on and partly in the field made it impossible for the game to continue. He described it as a “mission impossible”.
FC Bayern club representatives did not like the police operation
There were also different opinions about the banner itself. Türkgücü insisted that it was not authorized. When Akkay explained that he could only judge the reaction to the banner, which provoked numerous Türkgücü fans, Gerlinger said: “I totally understand them, most of the time we are in this position.” However, the FCB chief legal officer emphasized that after consultation with the police, it was not an illegal banner. Dremmler added that a professional fan scene like FC Bayern’s cannot always be regulated, “and we certainly can’t regulate what is brought and brought in (to the stadium, editor’s note)”. Türkgücü was also fined because the explosive banner was able to get into the stadium in Heimstetten despite body searches on all spectators.
The length of the negotiations also showed how difficult it was for everyone involved to reach a conclusion. The oral hearing lasted three hours, during which several witnesses were heard in addition to the club representatives. The subsequent legal discussion between the parties involved in the proceedings, which took place behind closed doors, lasted more than 90 minutes. Neither side wanted to appear in public as a loser and absolutely avoid losing face.
Beierlein explicitly pointed out that the sports court is not entitled to assess police behavior. However, Gerlinger and Dremmler made it clear that they did not like the behavior of the police. He had not seen such an approach in 20 years, said Gerlinger. Dremmler emphasized the “sharpness and intensity” of the police operation. Pepper spray and batons were also used in the attack, and 19 people were injured, including a 12-year-old girl, according to several witnesses. FC Bayern fans criticized the fact that no police representative was present at the hearing on Friday.
According to the association sports court, the criminal police are still investigating physical injury, breach of the peace and property damage. The processing of the scandalous game is not yet over – apparently it could also be an issue in the Bavarian state parliament next week.