FC Erzgebirge Aue: "DFB is moving further away from the grassroots"

Third-division soccer club FC Erzgebirge Aue has vented its anger at the seemingly arbitrary punishments handed down by the DFB sports court. In an interview on the club's website, board members Thomas Schlesinger and Jörg Püschmann said that it is no secret that decisions in Frankfurt am Main sometimes seem out of touch with reality. "But in the past year and a half, sports court rulings have become increasingly absurd. Some punishments are no longer comprehensible to anyone. It is right to sanction attacks on physical integrity, for example when a missile is fired into other spectator areas. However, to then impose the same penalty on a non-offensive banner or ironic spectator shouts simply makes people shake their heads. The rocket should be sanctioned, the banner should not," said Püschmann.

The weekly protests against investors in the German Football League, to which the Bundesliga clubs and the second division clubs belong, show what the mood is like at the moment. "It remains to be seen how the association court will decide. According to the penalty catalog, each tennis ball in the 3rd division costs 300 euros plus a 25 percent surcharge for game interruptions. With 100 tennis balls, anyone can work out what penalties the clubs face. If this is to be rigorously enforced, the wedge between fans and the DFB will get even bigger. Especially as the protests will certainly not stop as a result," emphasized Püschmann.

The fans called for a more differentiated approach. "Overall, there is simply a lack of a sense of proportion. There is also a lack of transparency. How do the penalties come about, what really happens with the money? The DFB and DFL have now lost all trust in large parts of the nationwide fan scene. We are experiencing a similar phenomenon in politics with lectures from above," said Püschmann.

If punishments are neither transparent nor appropriate, if there is no differentiation, if it is no longer apparent that the clubs can discuss with the DFB on an equal footing, then of course they should also react. "The DFB is moving further and further away from the grassroots and doesn't seem to realize it. It's time to demand change," emphasized Schlesinger.