Stadium ban for ex-DFB goalkeeper
Wiese is fighting Werder in court for money and his reputation
March 25, 2024, 8:13 a.m
Tim Wiese is a former German national soccer goalkeeper – and a former stadium ban. This unusual combination is now being discussed further in court: Wiese is fighting for his reputation and the subsequent annulment of the banishment by his former club Werder Bremen.
The proceedings surrounding a stadium ban against former national soccer goalkeeper Tim Wiese are entering the next round. On Monday (1:30 p.m.) the Bremen Regional Court will once again discuss the question of whether the former professional made racist comments about a service worker during a Bundesliga home game between his former club Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen in mid-March last year.
There is said to have been another incident that day: At the start of the trial, another service worker reported racist jokes in the box where the former goalkeeper was also staying. Two witnesses said that Wiese had used the N-word, but the lodge owner, a media entrepreneur, said it was “absurd.” Wiese vehemently denies the allegations. Lawyer Heiko Klatt explained the lawsuit, which was filed some time ago, with what Wiese believed to be a lack of clarification of the incident by Bremen. Now five new witnesses will be heard, including two named from the Wiese side.
“Neither right nor left”
Werder had given the former goalkeeper a stadium ban until the end of 2023. Wiese is now allowed to watch Werder home games in the stadium again – the court hearing is only about Wiese’s reputation and the costs of the proceedings. Wiese played a total of 266 competitive games for Bremen between 2005 and 2012.
Even before the incident in the box now under discussion, Werder had at least temporarily banned his former fan favorite from the traditional team – after the now 42-year-old was seen in pictures several times with people from the right-wing milieu.
However, Wiese assured in an interview with “Bild” that he was “not a member of a politically extreme camp” and never would be. “Neither right nor left.” Wiese said: “I am a big fan of multiculturalism and I live it every day in my circle of friends. Right-wing ideas or racist behavior are completely alien to me.”