Usually Dietmar Hopp can only be seen in the stadium on the grandstand or in the VIP box. On Saturday he was on the sidelines of a very unusual Bundesliga game for a quarter of an hour and was in the focus of all of Germany.
Sinsheim (dpa) - Dietmar Hopp had not sat on the grandstand for a long time, he was standing next to Karl-Heinz-Rummenigge on the sidelines - in the rain. The 79-year-old did not have to feel left alone in his hardest hour as a patron of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
"Dietmar Hopp! Dietmar Hopp!" - calls echoed through the stadium in Sinsheim. And after the fan scandal in the game against FC Bayern with the hate posters against Hopp, the billionaire received encouragement from many sides. From a hate figure in the ultra scene, he became a symbol of a power struggle in German football on Saturday at the latest. Just why?
"Mr. Hopp has earned a lot of assets, yes, through hard work. But he spends all his assets on sports, on social projects, on medicine, and that's why you are pilloried in this country?" Complained DFB President Fritz Keller in ZDF's "Current Sports Studio". "Where did we get to in this country? What's that supposed to mean? That is no longer possible, we have to set an example against hatred and envy in this society."
Hopp himself said only the day after the memorable Bundesliga game, which ended with a 6-0 lead by Bayern with two interruptions and a demonstrative ball attachment by both teams. "I'm now eager to see how it all starts now," he said in a Sport1 interview and puzzled: "If I only remotely knew what these idiots wanted from me, it would all be easier for me to understand. I can't explain why they are so hostile to me. It reminds me of very dark times. "
The majority owner was "extremely agitated", reported TSG managing director Peter Görlich in Sinsheim. That is understandable: "Dietmar Hopp has been insulted for years." The first poster with his likeness in the crosshairs appeared in 2008 and was the beginning of a constant feud between the fans of Borussia Dortmund and Hopp. This turned into a camp struggle that split football more than ever.
Regardless of financial networks in their own clubs, a hard core of fans says: Hopp bought the success. With his money, the former SAP co-founder - according to the US business magazine "Forbes" - with assets of $ 10.2 billion (approx. € 9.2 billion) in 15th place among the richest Germans - has made the Hoffenheim village club a Bundesliga club made.
Hopp differs from a classic investor nonetheless: the native of Heidelberg once kicked at TSG himself, the club is a matter close to his heart. Thanks to high transfer revenues, Hoffenheim has been financially independent of Hopp for several years.
For a while, the protests against the upstarts of RB Leipzig pushed the Causa Hopp / Hoffenheim into the background. After the DFB ruling with a two-year stadium ban against the repeat offenders from the BVB fan camp ten days ago, the argument is reignited. Hopp has also been taking civil law action against fans who insult him.
Bayern coach Hansi Flick knows Hopp like hardly anyone else in the league: Joachim Löw's former assistant coach trained Hoffenheim before the furious march into the upper house. He always lived in neighboring Bammental and was one of the managing directors at TSG for a short time two years ago. "Each of these chaots probably has someone in their family who has already benefited from Dietmar Hopp," said the angry flick to the address of the culprits in the Bayern block.
In the Rhine-Neckar region, Hopp is considered the great benefactor: According to his own information, "Vadder Hopp", as he is often called, has so far spent around 800 million euros with his foundation - for kindergartens, retirement homes, cancer research, education, youth sports and more. That is why Hopp has accompanied solidarity expressions for a long time, also from the Bavaria camp: with the Munich management team, Franz Beckenbauer's golf friend has a friendly relationship. Bayern's chief executive Rummenigge comforted the patron on the grandstand on Saturday. And then didn't leave him alone in the rain.
Report on the Hoffenheim homepage
Rummenigge statements on Bavaria's homepage
Dietmar Hopp Foundation