The disrespectful behavior of the VfL Wolfsburg footballers, who made fun of information about the obligation to wear masks during a train journey, continues to have an effect. Managing Director Jörg Schmadtke has questions for the Wolves delegation and announces consequences.
Sport managing director Jörg Schmadtke harshly criticized the football professionals from the Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, who had not worn protective masks during the journey by train to the away game at Bayer Leverkusen (2: 2). "What happened really annoys me. The boys should start turning their heads," said the 58-year-old to "Kicker". As initially reported by the WDR, the majority of the players on the Deutsche Bahn train did not wear a mouth and nose cover, which is mandatory for train journeys. In addition, some players are said to have behaved disrespectfully towards the railway staff.
"On behalf of the entire team, VfL Wolfsburg sincerely apologizes for the unprofessional and inappropriate behavior of its players and especially the staff of Deutsche Bahn for their disrespectful behavior, which has never happened before and also does not correspond to the usual behavior of the club teams, is in no way compatible with the values of VfL Wolfsburg, is not tolerated and must not happen again," wrote the Lower Saxony in a statement.
Schmadtke followed up on Sunday: "If the players think they can ignore it, then that's unacceptable." But he is also annoyed that the players were not encouraged by the support team to change their behavior. "There were enough people who could have fixed it," said Schmadtke, who was not on the ICE. He also threatened: "If it happens again, we will only drive around by bus."
VfL head coach Niko Kovac addressed the misconduct in front of the assembled team immediately after arriving at the team hotel on Friday. "I explained to the team how the rules in Germany are on the train as opposed to on the plane," Kovac explained after the game: "Not everyone was there, but that doesn't excuse the matter. It shouldn't happen like that, it won't occur more."
