Cologne fan scene ensures outrage: choreography with a knife to Fortuna!

Cologne fan scene ensures outrage: choreography with a knife to Fortuna!

In an excitement in front of the Rhein derby between 1st FC Cologne and Fortuna Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul sharply criticized the controversial choreography of the Cologne fans. On a huge banner that adorned the south grandstand of the RheinEnergieStadion, a picture showed a man with a FC tie who held a knife on the fighter of Fortuna, the goddess of luck. This presentation and the associated statement "Happiness is not a gift from the gods" were approved by those responsible for the association, but classified as scandalous.

Reul spoke clearly and asked the people responsible for 1. FC Köln an immediate intervention: "This is the next scandal," he was outraged. He received support from the Mayor of Cologne Henriette Reker, who was a victim of a knife attack in 2015. She expressed that the choreography and statements of the association management "ignorance" showed to the current social situation. Fortuna Düsseldorf also spoke up: Sports director Klaus Allofs described the campaign as "completely inappropriate", especially in the context of the latest events in the country. In the meantime, Cologne's sports manager Christian Keller believed that such rivalries in the fan scene were normal, even if he did not find the motif himself beautiful. "We could live with the motif, we didn't find it beautiful," he said, adding that the banner had not been considered a call to violence.

The debate about this choreography shows how sensitive topics such as violence and rivalry have to be treated in football. The reactions of the politicians and the association illustrate the responsibility that both fans and clubs bear to promote a respectful atmosphere in sport without crossing limits. It remains to be seen whether these incidents will lead to a rethink among those responsible.

As the crown reported and RP online confirmed the incident as a serious criticism in football environment perceived.