Sankt Pauli rebels against youth players' representatives

Sankt Pauli, Hamburg's red-light district club that describes itself as anti-capitalist, anti-fascist and anti-homophobic, a German soccer historian who rarely leaves the Second Bundesliga, said Tuesday it will stop working with advisers and agents of players under 18. The law prohibits intermediaries from charging for services rendered to underage footballers, but in fact Germany is one of the European powers with the highest traffic of youth between clubs, and most exchanges involve agents who pocket a commission.

"We are committed to a dialogue with the players and their families and a personal environment based on collaboration," says the director of the quarry, Banjamin Liedtke, who recognizes that the measure will not always favor the interests of Sankt Pauli, since many young people only move through the intermediary of their agents. "Children change clubs a lot and that harms the development of the player," adds the coach. "By dealing directly with them, we hope to generate greater rootedness." The decision is part of a strategy promoted under the banner of 'Rebellution, another youth football is possible'.

The idea of revolt against the system always flies over the old port stronghold. Opposing the commodification of football is, since the 80s, one of the currencies of Sankt Pauli, encouraged by a fan base that proclaims itself a squatter and that does not tire of reaffirming its leftist identity. "Who has betrayed us?" they sing; "Social Democracy! Who has never betrayed us? "The Sankt Pauliiiii!"

The new measure deepens the social crusade of the club that is currently second in the Second Division. One point behind leaders Dusseldorf, who have 14, and level on 13 points with Hamburg, the city's small club has become a pole of attraction for its daring and exciting game. The growth of the team has made Fabian Hürzeler, 29, one of the fashionable coaches in Germany.

No more coaching.

Prohibiting the passage of agents in the sports city is the most emphatic rule of a catalog that extends to prevent the proliferation of personal trainers of all kinds, from physical trainers to individual mental trainers, hired outside the club, a very fashionable trend among all the quarrymen of Europe. Sankt Pauli wants to insist on the value of the community of the group, the beginning and end of all training. "We want to help players improve in the long term and we want to work with them to develop the skills they need to succeed in top-level sport," Liedtke explained.

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