The sport takes a back seat to the handball team at Borussia Dortmund. First, two national players quit without notice, then the top club travels to the away game without a head coach. Now the BVB coach relieves Andre Fuhr of his duties – the allegations obviously weigh heavily.
German handball runners-up Borussia Dortmund has released head coach Andre Fuhr with immediate effect. This was announced by the women's Bundesliga club. "In the past few days, the coach had been sharply criticized by both the players and the public, which made it almost impossible for the squad and the entire department to focus on handball," the statement said. According to BVB, however, the decision on the exemption is "expressly not linked to any prejudice".
Fuhr was no longer in charge of the team when Dortmund won 38:25 at Sport-Union Neckarsulm on Saturday. This was preceded by the terminations of the players Mia Zschocke and Amelie Berger. The club initially refused. In the meantime, however, he has complied with them. In connection with this dismissal, there had been a crisis meeting in which representatives of the contact point for violence and abuse in top-class sport had also taken part.
The online portal Handball-World published a statement by Fuhr's lawyer Prof. Dr. Markus Buchberger verbatim. It states that the "necessary measures" have been initiated, "but without going directly into the public eye with any clarification". Regarding the nature of the allegations, the legal counsel is only vague, "that most of the allegations are about the border between demanding coaching work and individually perceived border areas." There is also an "inappropriate sexualization" in the room: If "someone has felt negatively affected by this, this is not to be criticized," said Buchberger.
"Borussia Dortmund is currently working through the events conscientiously and thoroughly and is in dialogue with the contact point against violence in sport, which was contacted by several players," commented BVB in its public statement, but wants to " not comment further on the matter". BVB left open who should succeed Fuhr.
It is not yet clear who will train Dortmund in the future. Fuhr, who took over the Dortmund handball team before the 2019/20 season and impressively led to the first German championship in the club's history in the 2020/21 season with 30 wins in 30 games, was represented on Saturday in Neckarsulm by assistant coach Andreas Kuno.
(This article was first published on Tuesday, September 20, 2022.)
