FC Schalke 04 has been fined again. This time the smoke choreography was involved.
FC Schalke 04 has been fined 34,000 euros again by the DFB Sports Court just two days after being fined for burning Bengalos in the derby at Borussia Dortmund.
This time, two offences were punished. Firstly, S04 was fined 5,000 euros for the spectator reaction in the home match against TSG Hoffenheim. It was assessed that Schalke fans threw objects onto the pitch several times.
“In the 11th minute of the match, after a converted penalty kick, several objects were thrown from the Schalke spectator area in the direction of cheering guest players. In the 66th minute of the match, a cup was thrown from the home fan block towards a guest player before a corner kick was taken. In both cases, no one involved was hit,” reads the DFB’s statement of reasons for the verdict. “In the summary proceedings, the DFB Control Committee assumes that a total of at least five objects were thrown.” According to the DFB’s catalogue of penalties, that amounts to a €5,000 fine.
Added to this are the offences in connection with the choreography from the match against SC Freiburg. The choreo, in which a huge Schalke jersey in front of the Nordkurve slowly filled with blue smoke, did cause a stir nationwide. But on the one hand it was probably not agreed with the security authorities and on the other hand it was not without consequences. The game even had to be briefly interrupted shortly after kick-off because of the smoke.
55,000 Euro fines in the first half of the season
16,000 euros is the DFB’s fine for this. “Before the start of the match, at least 10 pyrotechnic objects (smoke pots) were ignited as part of a choreography in the Schalke fan block. The start of the match was not impeded at first, but had to be interrupted for about a minute in the 4th minute of the match due to the heavy smoke development (case 1),” the association writes in this regard. In addition, there were further offences. “In the 45+1st and in the 61st minute of the match, at least two cups were thrown in the direction of the players and the referee respectively. In both cases, nobody was hit (case 2).”
That makes a total of 55,000 euros in fines for the Königsblauen in the first half of the season. This puts the Knappen rather in the lower midfield as far as the catalogue of penalties is concerned, but the expenditure is totally superfluous. For comparison: VfL Bochum has already been fined 104,000 euros this season. Eintracht Frankfurt was even fined more than 300,000 euros.