Hertha supporters declare action
Fans: “We decide for ourselves how long a protest can last”
February 5, 2024, 3:13 p.m
Hertha fans protested for more than 30 minutes in the top second division game against HSV. It goes against the DFL and the planned investor entry. In a long statement they explain their reasons.
The fans of Hertha BSC justified their extremely long protest against an investor entry into the German Football League (DFL) with the lack of effect of shorter interruptions. That’s why they “chose the particularly long, particularly boring and particularly strenuous form of protest. People seem to have quickly gotten used to short protests and short interruptions in Germany,” said a statement from the fan group Harlekins 98 on Sunday evening.
In the top game of the 2nd Bundesliga against Hamburger SV on Saturday, Berlin fans repeatedly threw tennis balls onto the field. The game was interrupted for more than half an hour. “You have seen the protest of a free and lively fan curve. We decide for ourselves how long a protest can last,” said the Ultra group. The aim was to make the protest more visible again.
The Harlequins 98 cited their categorical rejection of the planned investor entry into German professional football as the reason for the action. Fans fear, among other things, a further fragmentation of match days, games being played abroad, increasing influence from investors and a weakening of the 50+1 rule. Essentially, this stipulates that investors cannot take over a majority of votes in the corporations of clubs. The fans also expressed criticism of the possible investors, the two companies CVC and Blackstone. According to the Ultra group, both received “money from the highly controversial Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF.”
There were also fan protests against the DFL’s planned investor deal in other stadiums in the Bundesliga and the 2nd league at the weekend. This states that a financial investor should pay one billion euros for a percentage share of the TV revenue. According to Supervisory Board Chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke, the investor will be presented this season.