Hertha BSC has long held the lead in the race for the most chaotic club in the Bundesliga. In terms of sport, things have been going down for a long time and now in the relegation against Hamburger SV, chaos reigns off the field. Even when selling tickets for the decisive game.
Even before the relegation games against Hamburger SV, the mood among Hertha BSC fans is devastated. The reason for this is not to be found in the team’s sporting achievements, which in the end deservedly led the capital club into the games on the edge of the abyss, but this time lies in the club’s amateur ticket allocation.
On Saturday, the Berliners, who are currently coached by Felix Magath, fell to 16th place after a defeat in Dortmund and a last-minute goal in the game of fellow competitor VfB Stuttgart against 1. FC Köln. In the games against Arminia Bielefeld and FSV Mainz 05 they had already given away match points to stay up, in the game against relegated Bielefeld even very dramatically when two homegrown players missed a chance.
They now have two more games against Hamburger SV, third in the second division, to stay up in the league. But how many of our own fans will be at the end of the first game in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on Thursday is uncertain after a largely unsuccessful advance sale. When the tickets were issued, there was a communication error with regard to the season ticket holders and then the free sale of tickets started early. In this way, numerous Hamburgers were able to stock up on the coveted tickets. Much to the displeasure of the Hertha team, who already felt abandoned by the club due to the communication error.
Now the Berlin supporters fear conditions like in the quarter-finals of the Europa League between FC Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt. In April, crowds of Frankfurt supporters invaded the Catalans’ stadium. They had obtained tickets via numerous detours and turned the Camp Nou into their own forest stadium.
Out of displeasure with the loud support for the away team, the Barcelona ultras even left their block for a short time. Frankfurt advanced to the semi-finals and then tomorrow’s Europa League final and Barcelona scolded and announced that nothing like this would ever happen again.
According to information from “Bild”, however, Hertha is still hoping for a black eye. 50,000 tickets had already been sold before open sale began, to Hertha members and season ticket holders. But how many additional HSV supporters will be in the stadium on Thursday in addition to the usual guest contingent of just over 7,000 spectators can only be said when the immensely important game kicks off. However, the anger in the run-up will reverberate for a long time.
“I will provide information on this at the general meeting. Already on this way: We didn’t solve it well and I apologize for it to everyone affected,” tweeted finance director Ingo Schiller in the excitement on Monday. Ticket sales for the relegation game will therefore also be an issue at the general meeting on May 29th. There, the long-simmering power struggle between President Werner Gegenbauer and investor Lars Windhorst could escalate. Since joining the club in the summer of 2019, he has invested 375 million euros and had to watch his millions evaporate.
A possible relegation could lead to further problems in spite of the Windhorst millions rather modest financial situation. As early as March, the investor pointed out “extremely great economic difficulties” in the event of the fall into the lower house.
Although there are no new elections for the president at the general meeting, numerous motions to vote Gegenbauer out of office are expected. 75 percent of the members present would have to agree to such a motion in order to remove the long-standing president from office. Despite the chaotic situation at Hertha, that still seems almost impossible at the moment. However, a significant setback is expected for counter-builders. Local media are speculating that the 71-year-old could retire if there is a poor result.
In the event of a voluntary renunciation of the presidency, opposing candidates are currently positioning themselves. Officially only Kay Bernstein, one of the founders of the ultra group Harlequins, has thrown his hat in the ring. Irrespective of the outcome of the relegation games, the anger surrounding the ticket sales for the HSV game should play into the opposition’s card, even if these are currently still secondary problems for the club before the two games.
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