“Referees are not fair game”
Death threat against Ittrich “disturbed” referee boss
December 19, 2023, 2:15 p.m
Referee Patrick Ittrich made a death threat against him after the second division game in Berlin. Referee boss Lutz-Michael Fröhlich now strongly condemns this – and recalls a physical attack on a referee in Turkey. Hertha BSC is now also in touch.
DFB referee boss Lutz-Michael Fröhlich has strongly condemned the death threats and insults against referee Patrick Ittrich. “Such behavior is outrageous, disturbing and unacceptable. It damages the referees, but also the sport of football as a whole. Some people simply seem to have no limits or inhibitions,” Fröhlich is quoted as saying on the German Football Association’s homepage.
After the second division game between Hertha BSC and VfL Osnabrück (0-0), Ittrich reported insults and a death threat on his Instagram channel. He doesn’t want to simply accept such attacks without comment, but rather “make them public in a targeted manner in order to raise awareness of them.” In the game, according to the video images, he showed Berlin’s Florian Niederlechner the red card.
“Referees are part of the football family”
Hertha also joined Ittrich in a post on Platform X. The news that referee Patrick Ittrich received from our fan base via social networks “is unacceptable for us as Hertha BSC. We would like to express our full solidarity and support for Mr. Ittrich,” the club wrote. “No one should have to face hate, no matter where.”
Fröhlich recalled that a referee was recently physically attacked in Turkey. “It is incomprehensible and shocking that for some people even such serious attacks do not at least make them pause, let alone rethink,” said Fröhlich: “Referees are not fair game, neither in professional nor in amateur football, neither on the field of play outside – not even on social networks. They are people, athletes and a natural part of the football family.”
Ittrich, a full-time police officer, wrote on Instagram that a complaint against the user would follow. The referee later reported that the author of the death threat had since apologized to him. He also received numerous emails and messages on social networks in which the insults and threats were clearly criticized and he received support: “That makes me happy and shows me that a clear majority clearly condemns such attacks. The positive ones In any case, the letters I have received far outweigh them,” said Ittrich.