Tuesday, November 23, 2021
He is even threatened with a coach ban
So at the beginning of the vaccination affair came under suspicion
The allegations against Markus Anfang are extremely serious. According to the Bremen public prosecutor’s office, they continue to harden. The ex-coach from Werder Bremen is said to have faked his vaccination certificate. It is thanks to an attentive employee of the health department that this was noticed.
For the resigned Werder coach Markus Anfang, things are getting tighter in the vaccination card affair. The public prosecutor’s office in Bremen published new findings that corroborate the suspicion that his vaccination certificate was forged. According to a report by the “Kicker”, the control committee of the German Football Association (DFB) will now also investigate the 47-year-old. At the beginning there is a risk of consequences under sports law, which could range from a fine to a temporary ban from working as a coach.
The public prosecutor’s office confirmed that none of the two appointments documented in his vaccination certificate were initially recorded by the vaccination center specified there. That was the result of research at the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians who operate this vaccination center in Cologne.
The investigations also revealed that the batch number of the vaccine given at the beginning of the first appointment was never inoculated. According to the Public Prosecutor Frank Passade, the batch number of the second appointment was inoculated – but not on the day specified in the opening document. The public prosecutor therefore assumes that the vaccination card of the former Bundesliga professional is forged.
Quarantined as a vaccinated person?
On Thursday evening it became known that the alleged use of a forged vaccination certificate was being investigated towards the beginning. The Bremen health department reported him to the public prosecutor’s office because the authority had noticed several irregularities in the certificate. For example, on the day of his supposed first vaccination appointment in Cologne, the beginning is said to have had an away game with his then club SV Darmstadt 98 in Würzburg.
It is now also clear how the beginning came under suspicion in the first place. According to the “Deichstube”, an employee of the health department noticed inconsistencies during the vaccination pass control. The vaccination certificate initially stated that he received his first vaccination in April and his second vaccination in July. But the employee remembered that Anfang and his assistant coach Florian Junge went into quarantine on August 20 when a player tested positive. A follow-up test then brought a negative result, which is why all those affected were able to leave the quarantine. As early as August, the rule was that only those who had not been vaccinated had to be quarantined.
The fact that at the beginning of the carnival on November 11th in Cologne took part in a party with the 2G-plus rule, as reported by the “Deichstube”, also appears in a bad light against the background of the forged vaccination pass. If the vaccination certificate really turns out to be a fake from the start, the 47-year-old could have gained unauthorized access to the party.
No claim for damages by the club
Because of the investigation, he and his assistant coach Florian Junge resigned on Saturday before the Bremen home game against Schalke 04 (1: 1). Young people are also suspected of having used a forged vaccination certificate.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the beginning has now hired a lawyer, but has not yet made a statement on the allegations made against him. “His lawyer will first demand access to the files,” said Senior Public Prosecutor Passade. In a press release from SV Werder on Thursday evening, the beginning first assured that he had been vaccinated and rejected the allegations.
Bremen now has to look for a new coach for the second time within a few months. The talks include Ole Werner (most recently Holstein Kiel), Daniel Thioune (most recently Hamburger SV) and Daniel Farke (most recently Norwich City).
However, the Bremen-based company will not raise any possible claims for damages towards the beginning. Such an approach was conceivable simply because Werder had paid a six-figure transfer fee for the 47-year-old to his previous club, SV Darmstadt 98, in the summer. “We have agreed with him to terminate the contract immediately. This closes the Markus Anfang file for us,” said Werder managing director Klaus Filbry.