Football becomes a minor matter: mourning for Magdeburg's victims dominates the league

Football becomes a minor matter: mourning for Magdeburg's victims dominates the league

After a gruesome attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg in which at least two people were killed and many injured, football has become a minor issue in Germany. The tragedy gave the coaching situations in the Bundesliga game between FC Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig a completely different perspective. FC Bayern coach Vincent Kompany expressed his thoughts: "It's actually almost impossible to talk about football." He expressed a wish for peace in the future: "I wish for victories for peace next year," confirmed the emotional coach, who canceled plans for the traditional post-match Christmas ceremony due to the sad events. FC Bayern chairman Jan-Christian Dreesen also noted that the news had cast a large shadow over the celebration, and spectators in the stadium responded with applause to the decision to cancel the ceremony.

Emotional reactions of the trainers

The RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose, himself affected by the news from his homeland, could not deal with the football business: "Do we even want to talk about football today? Honestly," he said to DAZN, noting that there are more important things than the sporting result. His team had lost 5-1 to Bayern, but the shocking news shifted attention away from sporting competitions. The 1. FC Magdeburg players also remained silent after the game and did not give any interviews because the news took away their enjoyment of the game. “We are shocked and our thoughts are with those affected,” the association said on its website.

Moments of mourning also took place in the stadiums: the German Football League (DFL) called on the clubs to observe a minute's silence and recommended wearing mourning ribbons. At the game between Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1. FC Magdeburg, the spectators stopped supporting after they were informed about the events. Fortuna captain André Hoffmann emphasized that in such moments there are more important things at stake: “Football somehow doesn’t matter.” The sadness and shock over what happened are above everything at the moment, and football is taking a back seat, as well n-tv.de reported. It is a message to the entire nation that sporting success is no longer the focus, but rather people and their well-being.