Rostock (dpa/mv) – Poster campaigns against homosexuals and questionable fan rules at the second division soccer team Hansa Rostock are also calling politics onto the scene. “Homophobic and misogynist statements are not to be tolerated one millimeter. FC Hansa would do well to clarify the incidents,” said Minister of Justice Jacqueline Bernhardt (left) on Tuesday in Schwerin. She was reacting to recent media reports. Most recently, in Rostock’s home game against FC St. Pauli, posters with homophobic statements were shown, from which the club then distanced itself.
A fan magazine distributed before home games in Rostock provides additional topics of conversation. The rules published there for the south stand in the Ostseestadion state: “No women in the first 3 rows”. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s equal opportunities officer Wenke Brüdgam (left) was outraged. “What does that do to girls who are enthusiastic about soccer and who go to the stadium?” the “Schweriner Volkszeitung” quotes the politician, who claims to have played soccer for years. “This image of football, in which women are contemptuously referred to as ‘women’, must be questioned,” demanded Brüdgam.
When asked, the club said: “FC Hansa is aware of the fanzine that is made by fans for fans. It is therefore not an official publication of the club and it is not a mouthpiece for FC Hansa. The rules for the stadium – also for the south stand – result from the stadium regulations and not from a fanzine.” According to the club, women and children would stand in the first three rows of the south stand: “On average, the proportion of women in the south stand is even higher than on other stands in the Ostseestadion,” it said.
The club would not distance itself from the magazine as a whole, but from some statements and content: “It is part of a lively and democratic member and fan culture that everyone in the club can freely express their opinion – that’s why, for example, criticism of decisions of the club legitimate. Fans and members should and must be able to communicate their own points of view, opinions and criticism. However, this does not mean that the club shares certain contributions and opinions and also distances itself from individual content.” The club emphasized that it had “always encouraged women and girls to be enthusiastic about Hansa and football and to get actively involved with us”.
