Lokomotive Leipzig Players Threaten Walk Off if Hooligans Show Up
By: Bob | February 13th, 2007
This past weekend we were treated to the bizarre sight of watching matches in Italy played in empty stadiums. If fan violence persists in Germany we may be treated to the even bizarre sight of matches being played without players.
Players from the lower division team FC Lokomotive Leipzig have threatened to walk off the pitch if hooligans show up at their matches in the future. Last Saturday about 800 of the team’s fans attacked police, leaving 39 officers and six fans injured. You would have thought that cheerleaders with blue thigh-high boots would have quieted the crowd but that wasn’t the case.
“We have the right to leave the field if we see these rioters again in the stadium. We want to send out a signal,” Leipzig captain Holger Krauss said.
Saxony’s soccer officials on Monday canceled 60 matches scheduled for this weekend from state level down to local leagues as a result of Saturday’s rioting. They called it an act of solidarity with police and a way to call attention to soccer violence.
I applaud Lokomotive Leipzig’s players for taking a public stand. Even though it might seem like a commonsense move for players to stop playing when violence breaks out, this is often the exception rather than the rule. Players and teams are seemingly very reluctant to ever take a stand against their own fans, even when they are doing a disservice for the team and for the sport.
I haven’t been able to track down much video for last Saturday’s riot in Leipzig but the German news story below does show a bit of what went down.
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