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STEFAN BOHRER
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National legend Fritz Künzli will be buried in Schwyz on Saturday.
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STEFAN BOHRER
2.13
His partner Monika Kaelin (left) and Künzli’s sister Trudi at the grave of the football legend.
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STEFAN BOHRER
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Monika Kaelin receives consolation from all sides – however, there is no one from the Swiss Football Association.
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ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, picture archive
13/13
And with the FCZ he lifted one or two trophies.
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These are beautiful words that Pierluigi Tami (59) presented in Bern last Thursday. What the Nati director criticizes, among other things, is how he dealt with former international players in the past. They should be honored in the future: «So that we can appreciate them. We have never been world champions or European champions, but we also have a football history and we always have to be aware of that. ”
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A good idea with first acts: Gelson Fernandes (32) is given a standing ovation before the Georgia international match (1-0) in St. Gallen. But Tami’s vision gets badly dampened just two days after his speech.
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Neither league nor association present
Because on Saturday Fritz Künzli, who died before Christmas at the age of 73, will be buried in Schwyz. Fritz Künzli was a light figure of FC Zurich – and a Nati legend. He played at the 1996 World Cup, made 44 games between 1965 and 1977 for Switzerland. He became a legend in Bern in 1967 when he led the Nati 2-1 in front of 53,137 spectators against overpowering Italy with a flying header worth seeing. The game ended 2-2. He scores 15 goals for the Nati.
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No representative of the Swiss Football Association is present at his funeral. No president Dominique Blanc. No Secretary General Robert Breiter. No Nati director Pierluigi Tami. And no national coach Vladimir Petkovic.
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And the league also shines through its absence: Neither President Heinrich Schifferle nor CEO Claudius Schäfer are on site. And FCZ President Ancillo Canepa doesn’t come either.
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“Shouldn’t have happened”
The official quote from the Swiss Football Association when asked by BLICK reads: “We have great respect for Fritz Künzli’s career and we are deeply involved with his family and relatives.”
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League CEO Claudius Schäfer makes a remarkably honest statement. He says: “We did not receive a death notice from the SFL with a notice of abdication, but I am very sorry and should not have happened that none of us was there to show the late football personality Fritz Künzli and his family the respect they deserve.”
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League President Heinrich Schifferle: «I had no knowledge of the place and time of the abdication. Of course I would have been there and would have given Fritz Künzli the well-deserved last honor. »
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Ancillo Canepa says: “I have a flu problem.” Among others, U18 coach Massimo Rizzo was on site.
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But it is most bitter that nobody came from the SFV. Because the great idea of Nati director Pierluigi Tami to honor and respect players leads to absurdity. Because if you don’t live the principles, it remains a paper tiger.
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And you can expect to see whether Fritz Künzli will be honored with a minute’s silence at the next Nati home game.
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