After the riots in Dresden, fan culture is coming under pressure

Dynamo’s sports director Sören Gonther said at the “Sport 1 one-two” on Sunday: “It torpedoes what we are working on with fan representatives, club representatives, DFL, police and so on. Everyone has been working for months to guarantee a safe stadium experience. And that deprives us as a club of any argument to stand up for fan interests.”

The German Football League (DFL) also clearly condemned the events on Monday. “These riots have nothing to do with fan culture. We have been advocating for sensible and justifiable security measures for months in order to strengthen the high level of security in the stadiums and maintain the positive fan culture. These incidents endanger fan culture and football as a whole,” the DFL said in response to a request from the dpa.

During the game, pyrotechnics were initially ignited by both sides, which led to the first short interruption in the game. A Hertha fan, who does not want to be named but was very close, describes the emerging escalation as the pyrofoam slowly cleared.

The Berlin fan buses were already escorted in Brandenburg

“The Dresden fans ran over the roof to the Hertha block and then lured the Hertha Ultras upstairs. There were probably 20 guys in civilian clothes from Block R and mobbed the Ultras.” The theft of a Hertha flag, which was later burned in the Dresden K-Block, finally ignited the explosive situation.

A little later, supporters of both teams climbed over the fences. Dresden supporters ran masked along the pitch to the Hertha fan block. There was a brief encounter between the two fan groups, during which pyrotechnics were used as projectiles. Referee Sven Jablonski had to interrupt the game, which the Berlin team won 1-0, for 20 minutes.

The eyewitness from the guest block also wonders why it took 90 seconds until the emergency services began to push the rioters back into the block.

Especially since the Berlin fan buses were already escorted by the police to the exhibition center in Dresden shortly after Senftenberg in Brandenburg in order to prevent a clash. The participants were also advised to avoid consuming alcohol if possible in order to keep a calm head.

Despite the short journey to Dresden, quite a few Hertha fans decided against accompanying their team because there had already been a crash in the first leg. There were 30 arrests at the beginning of November when Hertha won 2-0. The main reasons were physical attacks, resistance to law enforcement officers and physical injuries.

“Shooting rockets into the block at people is not possible,” says the Hertha fan present, annoyed by the Ultras on both sides. “The Ultras simply take themselves far too seriously and are equals among equals.”

Some fan groups from the Hertha ultra milieu are considered particularly violent. The “Young & Free” association, for example, is described by fans as young ultras who like to go for it. Representatives of the “030 caliber” who have resurfaced since this season are also notorious, with connections to the hooligan scene. But who was specifically involved in Dresden remains to be determined.

“Our Curve” warns against generalizations

The DFB had already announced that it would initiate investigations against the clubs after the Easter holidays. “This is of course grist to the mill of the big critics. We are aware of that,” said Hertha’s managing director Peter Görlich. The events did not correspond to his “values ​​framework”.

The Saxon Interior Minister Armin Schuster then questioned the entire negotiation process so far with the German Football Association (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL). “I will personally have the results of a precise analysis of this game by the clubs and the city in collaboration with the police presented to me,” emphasized Schuster.

The fan association “Our Curve”, however, warns against generalizations. “Pyrotechnics is a stylistic device and must not be used as a weapon against others. Violence is also not to be tolerated in the stadium. However, it cannot be the case that the behavior of a few is made the benchmark for 25 million football fans in the stadiums,” it said in a statement.

In the past, Schuster viewed bills to the clubs for police costs as the wrong approach, but the pressure continues to increase. The ministers will meet again in June, but at the last round in Norderney in mid-March, the state sports ministers had already demanded greater cooperation from the DFB and DFL.