Because they believe that patron Dietmar Hopp has too much control, the Hoffenheim fans are daring to revolt.Image: imago / watson
TSG Hoffenheim is in the Bundesliga primarily because of one man: Dietmar Hopp. Despite this, the fans are now turning against the patron and want to force him out of the club – the mood is at boiling point ahead of the Bundesliga opener.
24.08.2024, 10:0524.08.2024, 12:32
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There is a huge clash at TSG Hoffenheim. Before the Bundesliga game against Holstein Kiel starts this Saturday (3.30 p.m.), the club even fears that the game will be abandoned. “We hope that the game will go ahead – but we don’t know,” Hoffenheim announced during the week. “It could be ugly on Saturday against Kiel.”
The reason for this is the dispute between some fan clubs and the club, which “escalated” last week, according to the Bundesliga club. Two ultra groups have “declared war” on TSG. It is a reaction to the dismissal of Alexander Rosen, the sports director who is popular with the ultras, at the end of July. Rosen had worked at Hoffenheim for 13 years, and other managers and Pirmin Schwegler had to leave with him. The former Swiss international was the head of professional football at his former club for a year.
Was popular with the fans, but had to vacate his post: Alexander Rosen.Image: www.imago-images.de
As a result, communication between TSG Hoffenheim and the fans came to a standstill. At last weekend’s DFB Cup match, there was a 45-minute boycott and before the Bundesliga started, posters were displayed at the training ground saying things like: “Now you’ve gone too far. You’ve started a war that you can’t win.” Another said: “We fans are the club. Go fuck yourself!”
This also left its mark on the players and coach Pellegrino Matarazzo. The latter said: “It was certainly not optimal preparation. The unrest is a challenge.” Player Grischa Prömel also reported: “Of course, this is not an easy situation, even for us players. But we have to concentrate on the here and now and have to trust the club and the people involved to a certain extent.”
Ultras banned from stadium grounds
In order to avoid further attacks on the patron and long-time majority shareholder, the supporters were asked to clear the fan camp on the stadium grounds, where banners and flags are kept, among other things. Although the club does not want to “suppress any opinions”, club boss Simone Engelhardt, who is unpopular with the fans, is clear: “We do not want Dietmar Hopp to be bullied out of his own stadium.”
TSG Hoffenheim even declared that it would rely on the police to intervene in the event of incidents that were relevant to criminal law. This would include, for example, posters showing Hopp in a crosshair, as has been the case with opposing fans in the past. Although the two ultra groups that are in dispute with the club only comprise a maximum of 40 people in their core, it is said, there is still great fear of posters glorifying violence against the 84-year-old Hopp. In this case, the referee could even abandon the match.
In the past, Dietmar Hopp was often seen in the crosshairs of opposing fans. Image: imago
The fan scene itself, however, is defending itself against the club’s accusations. There will be no provoked abandonment of the game. In response to the club’s actions, however, the planned choreography for TSG Hoffenheim’s 125th birthday will be cancelled and there will be another boycott of the Bundesliga season opener. It remains to be seen how noticeable the silence of the fans, who are often ridiculed in Germany, will be. A great atmosphere is rare in the stadium, which is almost never sold out.
Hoffenheim fans want more power
The fans’ anger is also due to the upcoming election of a new chairman of the members. The only candidate is a confidant of Dietmar Hopp. The ultra groups therefore fear that the patron will continue to have “absolute control” over the club. Last November, TSG Hoffenheim returned to the 50+1 rule, which gives the members the majority of votes. Previously, Hopp had been able to act as the sole decision-maker since 2015 due to an exception rule.
However, some Hoffenheim fans want to prevent this, which is why they were already demanding that Hopp leave the club at the beginning of August. “Mr. Hopp, your time is up,” said a statement from the Young Boyz 2007 group. The club must become transparent again “and not degenerate into a puppet show of old, white men.” This also refers to player agent Roger Wittmann, who, in the eyes of many fans, uses his proximity to Dietmar Hopp to his advantage and handles many transfers with Hoffenheim. The statement therefore goes on to say: “The friendship of an agent and business must finally be separated!”
Dietmar Hopp with player agent Roger Wittmann.Image: imago sportfotodienst
The Ultras also describe their favorite club as Hopp’s “life’s work.” But it is not without a certain irony that the fans of a test-tube club that would probably never have come anywhere close to professional football without the financial support of the SAP co-founder are now discovering their football romantic side. Under Hopp, who has been an investor at TSG Hoffenheim since 1989, the club from the village of 3,000 inhabitants rose from the seventh-tier district league to the Bundesliga and even took part in the Champions League once.
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