Challenge League
FCA coach Stephan Keller is suspended for the top game against Winterthur and is not allowed to have any contact with the team
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Ironically, in the important home game against FC Winterthur, FC Aarau has to do without its head coach. Stephan Keller saw his fourth yellow card in Wil and will only be allowed to be a grandstand guest in his own stadium. In his place, assistant coach Norbert Fischer will probably have the main responsibility.
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Stephan Keller was given a yellow card in the 53rd minute of the away game in Wil.
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A big game will take place in the Brügglifeld stadium next Friday. FC Aarau vs. FC Winterthur, first vs. second. It is a game with a decisive character in the promotion race of the Challenge League. And a game in which the home team will lack a head coach.
It had to come to this at some point because Stephan Keller was in acute danger. The FCA coach had already been warned three times this season, and it finally happened a fourth time last Friday evening. In the 53rd minute of the game, Malik Talabidi fouled the Aarau attacker Shkelqim Vladi, but instead of sending the Wiler defender off with a yellow card, referee Alain Bieri decided to just whistle for a foul. Talabidi was then substituted as a precaution.
At that moment, Keller exchanged a few words with Brunello Iacopetta, the coach colleague on Wiler’s side. A little too vehement for Bieri’s taste: the referee gave Keller a yellow card. “Gripping” is noted in the game report sheet.
Yakin, Frei – and now Keller
The card now has consequences for the comparison against Winterthur: Keller is blocked. Since 2019, according to the rules, not only players can be warned, but also coaches and staff. Four cards result in a one-game ban. Before Keller, this fate befell only two coaches in the Challenge League, but they have illustrious names: Murat Yakin (banned from Schaffhausen in 2019) and Alex Frei (from FC Wil in 2021).
When asked, Keller did not want to comment on his game suspension. An overview of the individual cards shows that the warnings were not always the pure result of emotional coaching.
Already two warnings against Winterthur
The warning about three weeks ago at the Schützenwiese in Winterthur – Keller’s personal third – was therefore more of a side effect of what he was trying to achieve. After the ominous cup toss shortly before the end, Keller entered the field to make clear FC Aarau’s intention to protest. However, the request did not go through with the referee: he showed Keller a yellow card because he broke the rules by crossing the sidelines. The FCA coach has already been warned against Winterthur this season. In the 2-0 win in the first half of the season, Keller got upset after Raoul Giger was sent off in the coaching zone.
–There will be no handshake between Winterthur coach Alex Frei and Stephan Keller on Friday.
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Clear instructions: Keller is not allowed to contact the team
It is unclear what impact Keller’s absence will have on the team in the top game. In his place, assistant coach Norbert Fischer will most likely have the main responsibility, while he himself will only be allowed to be an uninvolved grandstand guest on Friday evening. The instructions in this case are clear.
Article 81 of the Swiss Football Association’s ordinance on the administration of justice states:
«The functionary who has been suspended may only watch the game in which he has to serve the suspension (…) from the stands. Before and during the game, his presence in the changing rooms, in the players’ tunnel, in the technical area and on the pitch is prohibited. He is not allowed to contact the team before or during the game.”
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