LASK scandal about trainer Valérien Ismael outraged Austria boss

Secret video recordings of a team training after a nightly break into the stadium, wild accusations and probably draconian punishments: Austrian football is overshadowed by an unprecedented fair play scandal a few weeks before the Corona restart.

What happened? League leader Linzer ASK has completed four team training sessions in the past three weeks and thus violated government decisions and agreed small group training for the Bundesliga clubs before resuming play on June 2.

“In the past weeks and months we have fought massively to be able to play football again,” said league board member Christian Ebenbauer SID: “It is clear that you are personally disappointed when such an incident happens.”

ÖFB President expects severe punishment

Because of a possible violation of the basic idea of ​​fair play, the club is at risk of serious consequences. ÖFB President Leo Windtner calculated in ORF with a “hard punishment”. It was “not a trivial offense,” said Windtner, “but a serious foul on all Austrian football. The remorse comes too late.”

The regional association presidents in the highest body of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) called in the Salzburg news even exclusion from the European Cup. The sentence ranges from a warning to forced relegation and exclusion from the association; fines and point deductions are likely. A first instance judgment of the responsible Senate 1 of the league was to be expected before the restart.

LASK trainer Valérien Ismael wanted to “set stimulus points”

The LASK publicly admitted the team training, which had been “captured by a camera illegally attached as part of a nightly break-in,” and apologized.

“The decisions were wrong, it was a mistake. We didn’t want to get a head start,” said coach Valérien Ismael. The former professional from Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Hanover 96 only wanted to set “stimuli and impulses” through the training units.

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The club would not need this competitive advantage at all, Ismael led his team to the round of 16 of the Europa League with refreshing football and even surpassed serial champions Red Bull Salzburg. The league competition was outraged at the breach of trust.

“That was an absolute blow to the neck,” said board member Markus Kraetschmer from Austria Vienna, he expected “a draconian punishment as a clear signal”.

The LASK, however, appealed for proportionality. “We missed the mark, but we didn’t steal anything, we didn’t kill anyone, we trained four times incorrectly,” said Vice President Jürgen Werner.

And President Siegmund Gruber even raised other crimes. “I get a lot of photos and videos from other clubs from a lot of people,” he said. But: “We carry our things in the living room and not on the balcony.”

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Actually, Bundesliga board member Ebenbauer wanted to serve as a “national pioneer” and “role model” for other leagues and sports in Austria. “Such incidents don’t help in any way,” he said.

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