Werder coach resigns due to vaccination card affair: beginning end

Enlarge image

Markus beginning

Photo: via www.imago-images.de / imago images / Comsport

In the evening there is a football classic, Werder Bremen meet Schalke 04. This duel between former heavyweights may only be a second division game, but 42,000 spectators have announced themselves in the Bremen stadium.

But currently this game is a minor matter, there seems to be no more anticipation.

A few hours before kick-off, Werder Bremen had to announce the resignation of their coach Markus Anfang.

Now it happened quickly.

It was not until Thursday evening that the public prosecutor's investigations into Werder's coach Markus Anfang became known.

He is said to have used a fake corona vaccination certificate.

This was noticed by the Bremen health department, which after checking had made the decision to file a criminal complaint against the beginning.

The 47-year-old had initially rejected all allegations in a first statement.

Well, on Saturday morning, he resigned from his position as Bremen coach.

This does not have to be an admission of guilt, but this step does not invalidate the suspicion of having cheated.

"Due to the now extremely stressful situation for the club, the team, my family and myself, I decided that I would end my job as Werder Bremen's head coach with immediate effect," was quoted in a statement from the club at the beginning of Saturday.

Beginning did not respond to the allegations.

The co-trainer should also be involved

There is still no telling how big the matter, how big the problem will be for Werder Bremen.

The head coach is gone overnight, it will not leave the team behind.

The cause could shake the club, which was relegated in the previous season, once again to its foundations.

At the beginning, assistant coach Florian Junge also announced his resignation.

According to the Werder announcement, there are also public prosecutor's investigations against the 35-year-old, which has not yet been public.

According to "Deichstube" he is also suspected of having used a forged vaccination certificate.

Young and beginners have been working together for a long time.

Both know each other from the junior division at Bayer Leverkusen, where they trained junior teams from 2013 to 2016.

Later, Junge was assistant coach, first at 1. FC Cologne, then in Darmstadt.

In the summer of 2021 you started as a coaching team at Werder Bremen.

In Bremen they live in a shared apartment.

"I very much regret that my time at Werder Bremen is ending again," Junge is quoted as saying in the club announcement.

So far, he has not commented on the investigation against him.

Werder keep their distance

Werder's managing director of football, Frank Baumann, said that with their step, the two of them were taking on responsibility "and thus helping to end the unrest that has arisen around the club and the team in the past few days."

Baumann said on Friday that he had no doubts about the portrayal of having been vaccinated at the beginning.

In a club interview, Baumann said the allegation was "massive" and that the facts had changed over the course of Friday.

He also asked for your understanding that at the beginning they had initially given a leap of faith.

That no longer sounded like the previous day's backing, more like a distance from the ex-trainer.

Baumann did not give any details.

At the beginning, his vaccination certificate should have been handed over to the investigative authorities on Friday evening, writes Radio Bremen.

Forgery of documents can be punished with a fine or even imprisonment.

If the allegations are confirmed, this would have significant consequences for the coaching career from the start.

Deception on this matter could outweigh athletic failure.

Especially since the German Football League DFL had recently advertised with high vaccination rates within the 36 professional clubs.

For Werder, however, the unrest is unlikely to end with the resignation.

The beginning of the cause is rather another trouble spot that the club has to moderate.

Athletic and financial difficulties

Bundesliga relegated Werder is facing an economic challenge as well as a sporting one, incurring new debts of almost 40 million euros.

The beginning was considered Werder's dream coach and is said to have cost the club a transfer fee of 400,000 euros.

That is a lot of money given the financial situation.

In terms of sport, things haven't been going well either: After 13 match days, Werder are only eighth, and the DFB Cup has once again ended in the opening round.

Werder had not declared direct promotion as a goal at the beginning of the season, but the club officials repeatedly emphasized that there had to be a »reconstruction«.

But now it looks like the wrecking ball went through Bremen.

On Thursday, the beginning had asserted that he had been vaccinated in an official vaccination center.

For this he had »received the appropriate sticker in the yellow vaccination certificate.

I then had it digitized at the pharmacy. "

It is still unclear how the possible falsification was noticed by the Bremen health department.

According to media reports, there should have been discrepancies with the vaccination date from the start.

It is said that the vaccination appointment took place at a time when the beginning was working as a Werder coach.

So far there is no confirmation of this.

Against Schalke 04, Danijel Zenkovic is now responsible for the coaching bench.

The Austrian had already worked under his early predecessor Florian Kohfeldt.

He doesn't have any greater experience as head coach, so Werder should already be looking for a new coach.