After foul on Hertha's Reese: Cottbus demands objectivity

Energie Cottbus have apologized for the disparaging words used by their fans against Hertha player Fabian Reese, but at the same time called for fair play in the heated debate following the Berlin player's injury. In a statement, the third division soccer club rejected the accusation that there had been no apology after Filip Kusic's foul on Reese in last Tuesday's test match. The Hertha professional had criticized this in an emotional social media post on Saturday.

"The FC Energie defender went to Fabian Reese again during the first drink break of the test match to apologize to him personally," the Brandenburgers wrote in the post on their homepage. They demanded a "reasonable balance between objectivity and emotionality".

Reese suffered an ankle injury during the rough foul by Kusic and had to undergo surgery. He will miss the Berliners for weeks in the Bundesliga 2.

When he went into the dressing room, he was massively insulted by the Energie fans, he wrote on Instagram. "If you then walk past the opposing fans into the dressing room and get dozens of shouts of 'faggot', 'son of a bitch' and even worse insults, we are moving away from this framework of values," the 26-year-old noted.

Reese wants to "celebrate soccer"

Reese, who has always been an outspoken advocate of social diversity, said: "Despite all the emotions, let's not use hate as an outlet in soccer. Let's whip the teams forward together and against each other and celebrate soccer." In its statement, Energie Cottbus wished Reese "another speedy recovery and an even stronger comeback".