Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Dynamo Dresden to appeal against punishment for bull's head incident

Dynamo Dresden will appeal against a €60,000 German Football Federation (DFB) fine and partial stadium closure after fans threw a severed bull's head near the pitch during a match against RB Leipzig.

The incident, which happened in a DFB Pokal game in August, saw the second tier club punished by the German football authorities.

RB Leipzig are bankrolled by Austrian soft drink company Red Bull and have faced criticism from rival fans for undermining the "German" idea of football.

Dresden had been playing under a suspended sentence imposed by the DFB in July, but after the incident the club were ordered to close five areas of their stadium for their home game against Greuther Furth later this month.

DFB judge Hans E. Lorenz said he had no other choice than to order the partial stadium closure.

"Something's happening every week. A suspended sentence would have been a mistake, full stop," he said.

But in a statement on the club's official website, Dresden president Andreas Ritter accused the DFB of a "capitulation to the existing problems," adding that the verdict "thwarted the club's efforts to break up solidarity [for criminal offenders] within the fan scene."

Ritter cited the "six-digit financial damage" resulting from the verdict and said: "The excessive degree of penalty throws us back in the work we have done for years. That's why we will appeal."

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