After Preußen Münster, 1. FC Köln has now been hit with a record fine. The FC has to pay almost 600,000 euros. How much can you put yourself above the club? A commentary.

After the coronavirus pandemic, the burning of pyrotechnics in stadiums in Germany has reached a new dimension.

It begs the question: what is going on in the minds of people who always want to outdo themselves? Every weekend there are fires and bangs in the corners all over Germany.

Quite apart from the fact that it’s crazy dangerous and there have already been several injuries, it doesn’t benefit the club in the slightest. On the contrary: record penalties are being handed out.

The word record penalty could be the most used word in sports media in 2023. This was most recently the case for Preußen Münster, who were fined a six-figure sum for their “fireworks” in the DFB Cup against FC Bayern Munich. Just one percent or more of the annual budget blown. Congratulations to the hooligans.

Schalke will soon receive another letter from the DFB court. On the one hand for the pyro crap in Rostock, which the S04 supporters then garnished with rioting that resulted in an almost 30-minute interruption to the game. Here too, the fine is likely to run into six figures. Respect.

The case of 1. FC Köln is very topical. They celebrated a home win in what has been an almost embarrassing first half of the season. The one in the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach. However, people will no longer be talking about the 3:1, but about the chaotic team’s art of making a record fine out of the three-pointer in the derby.

The FC has to pay 595,000 euros. What a fine, so it almost seems like a joke that €198,000 of it can be invested in the club’s own security and violence prevention measures.

To put it in fan language, you could actually burn them, perhaps set off with pyrotechnics. Because the spectators, who are happy week after week that they have once again taken something from the budget of the club they supposedly love so much, no longer seem to be reachable in these times. They put themselves above the club, they are megalomaniacs, they have to get out of the stadiums.

The only way seems to be to impose harsh penalties. In the first instance against the clubs, if you can find the idiots who are responsible, then they too must be dealt with severely.

For Münster, Schalke and Cologne, it’s already clear that these penalties will prevent at least one winter transfer, should the FC be able to sign any players at all, but that’s another matter entirely – the CAS ruling is expected shortly.

There is no great need for Münster to do anything now, but Schalke and Cologne urgently need new players. However, one of them has already been shelved due to their embarrassing behavior, as the money went to the DFB.

One can only hope that these stadium visitors never again blather on about being the club or that the club means so much to them. Because with every torch they burn, they prove otherwise.