The DFB sports court has sentenced Eintracht Frankfurt to a hefty fine and is demanding 250,000 euros. The Bundesliga club was able to obtain a significant reduction in the penalty
Last November, there were riots between SGE supporters and the police before the Bundesliga match between Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart (1:2). There were over 250 injured on both sides, and the Frankfurt fan area remained empty at the start of the game and long into the first half in protest. At the same time, the sometimes highly emotional investigation had begun, in the course of which the club also made statements and fan representatives and security authorities accused each other. The police later had to admit that they had initially falsely claimed in a statement that rival fan groups had clashed outside the stadium.
The case also had repercussions from a sporting law perspective, with the DFB Control Committee launching an investigation and ultimately requesting a fine of 500,000 euros from the DFB sports court. However, this was halved after Eintracht helped with the investigation and, according to the DFB, “identified a large number of perpetrators”. Stadium ban proceedings have been initiated against 45 people.
According to the verdict, the escalation of violence was triggered by incidents in Block 40 of the Eintracht Stadium, “where small groups of Frankfurt spectators had repeatedly gained unauthorized access by pushing away the security forces”, according to the DFB. The police who were called as a result were in some cases pelted with construction and partition fences by SGE supporters. They also used striking tools against the officers, who in turn used batons and pepper spray.
As is usual with DFB penalties, the club can use part of the amount demanded, namely 83,000 euros, for security measures, but must provide evidence of this by the end of the year
