3rd league: After a racism incident - canceled game between MSV Duisburg and VfL Osnabrück is repeated

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Affected player: Osnabrück's Aaron Opoku

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osnapix / Titgemeyer / imago images / osnapix

The canceled soccer game in the 3rd division between MSV Duisburg and VfL Osnabrück will be repeated.

That ordered the sports court of the German Football Association (DFB).

A catch-up date has not been set for the time being.

The game on December 19 in Duisburg set a precedent.

For the first time, a professional football game in Germany was canceled after a player was racially insulted.

The person concerned was Osnabrück striker Aaron Opoku, who had shot over the Duisburg Gate shortly before.

This was followed by the insult from the stands, whereupon referee Nicolas Winter interrupted the match when the score was 0-0.

While the fans in the stadium waited for the game to continue, both camps chanted "Nazis out", according to the clubs, and the arena director played "Scream for Love" by the band Die Ärzte.

Around 30 minutes after the interruption, it was announced that the game would not restart.

After a short period of reflection, VfL was unable to continue playing, according to the DFB announcement.

“The game was interrupted, and rightly so.

The so-called fan has been identified and is now being released, "MSV spokesman Martin Haltermann was quoted on Twitter after the game.

The repetition corresponds to the requests of the clubs involved, according to the DFB.

The DFB control committee had also spoken out in favor of a repetition.

The DFB sports court will decide at a later date whether the host MSV Duisburg will still be sanctioned for the racist insults.

The Duisburg police filed a complaint on Sunday against a 55-year-old suspect who, according to them, as well as witnesses, was questioned on Sunday.

"The intention has our express support"

It is a "non-standardized special case that, regardless of any fault of the clubs involved, justifies repeating the game in the opinion of the sports court," said Stephan Oberholz, the deputy chairman of the DFB sports court.

»Emotionally and morally, we consider VfL Osnabrück's decision not to continue the game to be understandable. The intention to set an example against racism also has our express support, «said Oberholz. And further: »However, it must remain clear that the referee alone has the right to abandon the game. We also expressly point out that in future, comparable cases of a game being abandoned, the intensity of the offense, the perpetrator profile, the time and the score must always be taken into account more closely in relation to the game rating. "

Both clubs welcomed the decision with a joint message.

"But we also hope that such an abandonment remains a one-off," said Duisburg's President Ingo Wald.

VfL President Holger Elixmann said that both clubs had "set a clear signal against racism and for humanity through their behavior, the DFB has joined in the sense of football with the judgment".

mon / dpa