Podolski's call for "radicalism" will not save soccer
The protests at the weekend in the stadiums of the first two professional soccer leagues were diverse. In view of the DFL's upcoming investor deal, fans are worried about their soccer. But this fear is nothing new. On the contrary.
"Always this higher, faster and further. Wow!" When the film "Who owns the game? About FIFA, VIPs and soccer fans" was shot 17 years ago, Schalke legend Yves Eigenrauch did not believe that things would go on like this forever. Many people thought at the time, shortly after the 2006 World Cup in their own country, that we had reached the end of the commercialization of soccer.
Eigenrauch calmly said these apocalyptic words at the time: "You give up, yes, I think that's the right term. Giving up certain traditions, certain values. Always having to go with the flow, having to go with the flow. I stick to it, at some point it will go boom and everything will fall over."
A long time has passed since then. A lot has happened. But one thing has not happened: Soccer is not dead. On the contrary: professional soccer is booming and booming and booming. And one thing now seems clear: there is no end to the ever-increasing commercialization of this sport. How could there be? Because Yves Eigenrauch already stated in the summer of 2006: "There's no one around to say that there's still a measure that needs to be found."
"You won't find that in England"
Even then, 17 years ago, there were of course fan protests. And they sounded like Lukas Podolski sounds today. Dave Boyle, who spoke for the English fans' association "Supporters Direct" at an event in Bremen against global commercialization, said that soccer on the island was now like "going to the theater or the opera". The 2014 World Cup winner and former Arsenal FC player Lukas Podolski can only confirm this: "These chants, this power, this passion - you won't find that in England or other leagues."
And even back then, almost two decades ago, Podolski's sentences were an argument for the still seemingly paradisiacal conditions in German professional soccer: "At clubs like FC Barcelona, half of the stadiums are filled with tourists. We in Germany must be proud that we have fans like that who back their club and simply want to see honest soccer." Now, in view of the upcoming investor deal, there are once again fears that the DFL could "destroy soccer" with its behavior. But the DFB and the DFL have still not managed to do that in all the years that have passed. So why now?
They are always spinning their wheels ...
The answer is as simple as it is sobering: it won't happen now either! And there are two reasons for this. One of them was given 17 years ago by the then DFL managing director Holger Hieronymus at a fan congress in Bonn: "Time can no longer be turned back, although certain developments can certainly be stopped. Our clubs are now turning over such a considerable volume and with an incredible number of employees. The signs of the times are clear and it will be difficult to turn them back."
And it was precisely this image that journalist Freddy Röckenhaus picked up on at the time when he explained why the "soccer system" (Holger Hieronymus) would continue to advance without collapsing: "It's a process that goes on and on. The screw is always being carefully turned further. And it may also be turned back a little if you notice that people are running away and you realize you've gone too far. But the tendency is always to turn it further. Of course."
"Follow through with radical protests"
Just how right Freddy Röckenhaus was with his theory so many years ago can be seen in the so-called "Monday games". These were actually abolished again due to pressure from supporters. However, interpreting this as a symbol of the "power of the fans" (Stefan Effenberg) only corresponds to a very small percentage of the truth. Other reasons played a role in the DFL's decision at the time. And so it is clear that the current division into three match days will certainly not be the end of the story. Should it be necessary in the course of the investor deal, an attempt will again be made to play on a fourth day of the week.
Lukas Podolski put all of this to one side at the weekend in a passionate plea for soccer fans in Germany and demanded: "You have to take a radical approach to the protests." For him, it is clear that "throwing a few tennis balls and after the 25th match day everything will be back to normal" would obviously not be enough. Podolski was negligent in not specifying exactly what "radically pulling through" might look like. However, even if the fans continue to emphasize their protest in the near future, this will not change anything on the whole. Because one thing should be clear to every supporter: Soccer has not belonged to the fans and players for a very long time. And sometimes you even have to assume it does: It no longer even belongs to the clubs.
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Despite the diverse protests in the soccer leagues, fans remain concerned about the impact of the DFL's upcoming investor deal on their beloved sport. "Radical protests" as suggested by Lukas Podolski could potentially echo sentiments felt in the German soccer scene, but concerns about commercialization and ownership of the sport are not new. In fact, even 17 years ago, there were fan protests, with the English league being criticized for resembling "the theater or the opera" compared to the passion shown in German leagues such as the DFL.
Source: www.ntv.de
