Werder Bremen were fined 91,000 euros by the DFB Sports Court on Monday. Misconduct by their own fans in the surprisingly early exit in the cup will cost the Bundesliga club dearly.
The start of the 2023/24 season was not what Werder Bremen had expected. The 2:3 defeat at third division side Viktoria Köln, which was followed by league defeats against champions Bayern Munich (0:4) and SC Freiburg (0:1), was a first setback and immediately meant the surprisingly early exit in the DFB Cup.
And the first-round exit, which cost the Bremen side further income via the most important national cup competition, will also cost the Bundesliga club dearly in retrospect. For, as the DFB announced on Monday afternoon, Bremen were “fined 91,000 euros in single-judge proceedings after charges were brought by the DFB Control Committee on two counts of unsportsmanlike conduct by its supporters. “
30,000 euros of this can be spent by the club on security or violence prevention measures, but it would have to prove this to the DFB by 31 March 2024. As the association lists in detail, before and during the match in the sold-out Sportpark Höhenberg with 8343 spectators, four fireworks batteries, 16 Bengal fires, six smoke pots and six flashers were set off by Bremen supporters. In addition, Werder supporters would have thrown three flagpoles into the interior during injury time.
The DFB did not say on its website whether Werder Bremen had accepted the penalty and whether it was therefore legally binding. Union Berlin (6,000 euros) and FC Bayern (1,000 euros) received much smaller fines on Monday, both of which they had already agreed to, making them legally binding.
