The eagerly awaited derby between MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiss Essen will take place on Friday (5 August, 7 pm). The fan distribution in the stands could also still shift.

The MSV Duisburg arena has a capacity of 31,500. Against Rot-Weiss Essen on 5 August, the host could report a sell-out for the first time in a long time. However, 3,300 seats will have to remain empty for security reasons.

5000 tickets went to Essen’s Hafenstraße. This means that theoretically 23,200 Duisburgers could be in the stadium. On Monday, MSV announced that 5000 tickets were still available, with advance sales running until 11.59 p.m. on Sunday.

Donations to prevent RWE fans

Tickets will then go on sale to the general public. Which would also mean more Essen supporters would try to get their hands on a ticket for the derby.

Zebra fans Markus Petersen and Sebastian Paradis want to prevent this at all costs. That’s why they have founded an initiative to buy and distribute tickets to Duisburg supporters by Sunday. The Zebra Fund is intended to prevent too many tickets from going on sale, which would mean that more Essen fans than necessary would be in the arena.

The plan in detail: All Duisburgers who do not want any more RWE supporters in the stadium will donate something. The money will be used to buy tickets in advance, which will then be distributed to MSV fans. On the Facebook page “ZebraFonds” it says with regard to the distribution: “The tickets will be given exclusively to needy and socially disadvantaged Duisburgers who also have something to spare for MSV! It goes without saying that the selection of those who receive a ticket in this way must be done carefully. The tickets are not simply given away here and there! The goal is and remains to get as many Zebras into the stadium as possible!”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Facebook page already reported a donation of over 1000 euros. The first 60 tickets have already been bought.