At the DFB Cup game between Waldhof Mannheim and 1. FC Nürnberg, the stadium announcer dedicated the announcement of the line-up to a neo-Nazi who is prominent in the region. The association quickly distanced itself from the action.
The stadium announcer for the third division team Waldhof Mannheim dedicated the presentation of the line-ups before the cup game against 1. FC Nürnberg (0:1) to a well-known figure in the neo-Nazi and hooligan scene. "This action was not coordinated with the club. We will talk about it and see how we react to it," said managing director Markus Kompp of the newspaper "Rheinpfalz" on Tuesday evening.
"I would like to make it clear that these ideas do not correspond to the attitude of SV Waldhof." "In an initial review," the stadium announcer assured that he did not know Hehl and his background. "As was usual in the previous 29 years, he wanted to independently fulfill requests made to him privately," writes the club.
The person named by the stadium announcer died last Sunday. He had sat on the city council for the right-wing extremist NPD and, according to media reports, had several previous convictions for violent crimes and illegal possession of weapons. In 1997, a judge at the Frankenthal district court said in the course of a trial that Hehl had an "inhuman attitude and brutality". Between 2014 and 2016 he was banned from the stadium at SV Waldhof because he called for violence against the police. "The police in Mannheim also informed us that you are known to the police and clearly belong to the right-wing extremist scene," wrote the club in its justification for the house ban.
The club announced in the evening that its announcer did not know the background. "Of course, SV Waldhof and our stadium spokesman continue to distance themselves from right-wing extremist ideas," wrote the Mannheimers. According to the announcement, the third division club is aiming for “clear regulations” for such dedications or expressions of mourning in the future.
