Union Berlin’s game against VfL Wolfsburg has to be interrupted due to new posters against Hoffenheim patron Dietmar Hopp. Now the Berlin club has its say.
1. FC Union Berlin sees German football in the debate about fan protests against the DFB and abuse by Dietmar Hopp before a difficult task. “We are once again in the area of a further symbolic argument that separates from the original contexts. It will be very difficult to deal with in the next few weeks,” said press spokesman Christian Arbeit after the 2-2 victory against VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday. “We have seen this in the field of pyrotechnics for many years. It is a similarly symbolic form of expression. We will all have to deal with it in the next few weeks and will have to deal with it.”
Towards the end of the first half, supporters of Köpenicker had each shown a poster with a Hopp portrait in the crosshairs and an insult to the patron of 1899 Hoffenheim. Therefore, referee Bastian Dankert temporarily sent the teams into the booths, the game was about to be canceled. The game was interrupted for the first time after Union fans had sharply criticized the resumption of collective penalties by the German Football Association.
“It is an issue that we get into a situation where everything gets mixed up,” said Arbeit. “In the end it is an example of what a different approach is actually supposed to do. Everything was explained at the end of this week, what is the procedure in the case of visible insult to identifiable individuals. What is the procedure if it is a general insult. You can see how things blur due to the accumulation and the intensification. “
In a statement, the Union Ultra group “HammerHearts 2004” was justified. The protest with Hopp in the crosshairs was “not a threat of death. It is clearly provocative and criticizes a person and a constant development. Today, however, it stands above all against creeping censorship and for the freedom of expression of the curves.”
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