Referee Suspended
October 16, 2006
The decision comes after a match on Sept. 26 at which a local Berlin club with a number of Jewish players -- TuS Makkabi -- quit in the middle of the game, claiming fans of the home side were subjecting them to racist abuse. The referee, Klaus Brüning, denied hearing the taunts and handed out a red card to one of Makkabi's players, causing the entire team to leave the field in the 78th minute.
Brüning's decisions have cost him his job. The Berlin Soccer Association (DFV) has excluded him from its ranks, meaning that he will no longer be eligible to officiate matches.
Explaining the ruling, DFV public relations spokesman Frank Schlüter said the organization had found that Brüning failed to ensure that the match was played under safe conditions.
"Regardless of whether the claims were true, the referee has a responsibility to investigate," Schlüter said.
The DFV also handed down a number of punishments to Makkabi's opponents, VSG Altglienicke. Fans will be barred from the next two home matches, players and coaches will have to attend seminars aimed at preventing racism, and the club has to provide five minders to monitor fan behavior through the end of the 2007-8 season.
Makkabi reviewing decision
The sporting manager for Makkabi's Soccer Division, Claudio Offenberg, said the club would review the reasoning behind the DFV's decision before deciding if it should push for further sanctions against Altglienicke.
Offenberg said the club is targeted with anti-Semitic abuse by opposing fans and players "with relative frequency" and said he didn't feel other clubs were doing enough to address the issue.
Schlüter said the DFV felt the punishments were "hard enough for a small club," which will be required to pay 1,000 euros ($1,250) for the anti-racism seminars.
Officials at Altglienicke are currently waiting to review the DFV's decision in written form before deciding whether to accept the punishment or appeal.
Other racist incidents
Racism among German football fans remains a problem at all levels. The sport's national governing body, the German Soccer Association (DFB), has handed out some record punishments this season. Earlier this month, the DFB fined first-division Aachen and Mönchengladbach 50,000 and 19,000 euros ($62,500 and $24,000) respectively for racist fan abuse when those two teams met.
Second-division Eastern German club Hansa Rostock had to cough up 20,000 euros after supporters berated Ghana-born German national Gerald Asamoah during a German Cup match with Rostock's amateur team in September.
But many observers worry that it will be hard to prevent racism at lower-division matches, which take place far from the public spotlight -- and the scrutiny of the associations charged with maintaining minimum standards of fair play.