Hertha supporters explain action
Fans: “We decide for ourselves how long a protest can last”
Hertha fans protested for more than 30 minutes at the second division top match against HSV. They protested against the DFL and the planned investor entry. In a long statement, they explained their motives.
Hertha BSC fans justified their extremely long protest against the entry of investors into the German Football League (DFL) with the lack of effect of shorter interruptions. Therefore, they “decided on a particularly long, particularly probing and particularly exhausting form of protest. People in Germany seem to have quickly become accustomed to short protests and short interruptions,” said a statement from the fan group Harlekins 98 on Sunday evening.
In the top match of the 2nd Bundesliga against Hamburger SV on Saturday, Berlin fans repeatedly threw tennis balls onto the field. The game was interrupted for more than half an hour. “You saw the protest of a free and lively fan section. We decide ourselves how long a protest can last,” said the ultra group. The aim was to make the protest more visible again.
The Harlekins 98 cited their categorical rejection of the planned entry of investors into German professional football as the reason for the action. The fans fear, among other things, a further fragmentation of match days, the staging of matches abroad, increasing influence of investors and a weakening of the 50+1 rule. This essentially stipulates that investors cannot take over a majority of votes in the capital companies of clubs. The fans also voiced criticism of the possible investors, the two companies CVC and Blackstone. Both, according to the Ultra group, “received money from the highly controversial Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF”.
There were also fan protests in other Bundesliga and 2. League stadiums over the weekend against the DFL's planned investor deal. This means that a financial investor will pay one billion euros for a percentage share of the TV revenues. According to supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke, the investor will be presented this season.
