Intrigue at Hamburg Football Verband: Coalition´s plans to kick NCG FC ( A predominantly Africans Football Club) out of the Hamburg football league intensifies

Intrigue at Hamburg Football Verband:  Coalition´s  plans to  kick NCG  FC ( A predominantly Africans Football Club) out of the Hamburg football league  intensifies

Africans are not organize, they are chaotic and they are badly behaved. This is a typical stereotype prejudice against many Africans in Germany. This attitude, especially from some Germans who are only exposed to only one particular way of behavior or doing things and who tried to use their own limited standard to judge everybody and everything around them. This is a dangerous form of racism, if  people cannot accept that people from other culture can be loud without being aggressive, gesticulate and make body contact without any intention of violence, or just smile or laugh when you expected them to be crying.

In the last days of the league, to be exert three matches to the end of the league that will almost certainly see NCG FC a multicultural, multi-ethnic international football club with players from Nigeria, Ghana and Togo with a German Coach and mixed fans group of Germans, football lovers, although predominantly people form Africa. Intrigue, discrimination and racist tendencies normally seen in films or read in books are raising their ugly heads for what most fans described as madness.

Analysis of the current table will throw more light to the situation. NCG FC is currently 4^th on the league table with 54 points and 22 games. ASV Hamburg II is first on the table with 57 points and had played 23 games. Farmsener TV is 2^nd on the table with 56 points and had played 25 games; Barsbüttel II is 3^rd on the table with 56 points and 24 games. FC Kurdistan Welat II is 5^th on the table with 49 points and 23 games and Juventude 6^th on the table with 40 points and 23 games. See:  www.sportnord.de/ligen/index.php?liga=KK09

By simple calculation, with 3 outstanding matches for NCG FC, which they are likely to win they will have a total of 63 points and top the league or second even if all the other team in the top 5 wines their matches and that is where the trouble is. The Coalition against NCG Football Club Hamburg promotion to the next higher league has intensifies their efforts to deny NCG FC Hamburg  this victory, ironically outside the football field rather  with malicious, frivolous, baseless and trump up charges in the sports court asking the court to withdraw their points or suspends them from the league. If this happens, the immediate beneficiary of this will be; Farmsener TV, who is leading the alliance, Juventude and FC Kurdistan Welat II are the three main club behind this intrigue. Also in such an event, ASV Hamburg and Barsbuttel all pro “German/European organized team” in the wish of the alliance,  who could also benefit because so far none is guaranteed of 1^st position and eventual promotion considering how tight the table is.

At the beginning of the league, NCG FC were described by most Hamburg sports commentators any analysts  as bunch of 11 entertainers on the field without enough training ball or match kits. Just another side attraction to the football world in Hamburg. Today with three matches to go, some are calling for their suspension because the bunch of 11 entertainers on the field may turn out to be the 11 champions of the 2011/ 2012 Kreisklasse league event with pamement training ground and only one unbroken year in the league and this is what the  alliance with many years in the league are finding difficult to accept.

NCG FC recent trouble started on the Good Friday, 6^th April 2012 with the match against Juventude. The referee Mr. Gün Mazlum, funny enough also a player of Kurdistan Welat II (FC Kurdistan Welat II, 5^th on the table) stopped a match at 76^th Minutes, citing provocation from NCG FC Fan block as reasons, and claimed that he was push as he came to the fan block to request for calm. This the NCG FC denied. A chat with the Director of Sport of NCG FC Hon. Kenneth Gbandi, who is incidentally one of the African representative and the speaker of  Anti-discrimination of Hamburg Senate Integration Council, gave a different picture. Firstly he condemned any form or unruly behaviors on the football fields and disassociate himself and NCG FC from any fan that takes the law into his hand. He had also apologized to the referee both on the day of the match and through his official media clarification in sport Nord, if the referee has in anyway felt threaten by the behavior of one of their  fans. However, he stated that he was at the match and have no slightest doubt about the physical safety of the referee from NCG FC fans, he has labored to explain that people should differentiate  between emotional engagement associated with football especially amounts the African fans and that of aggression. According to the Sport Director, NCG FC is just three matched to end the season and no referee till date have lodge any official  complain about his safety on the account of the behavior of the team or its fans. Why now? Why the issues of aggression and poor documentation and the use of unregistered player Just three match to becoming the potential champion, he asked.  More over one person do not win a football game, it a team that wins football game. What he experienced on that day according to him was purr emotion and not aggression. Moreover he has pledge to work with Hamburg Football verband to improving any areas that needed to be improved. Since this incident, the sport verband have showed up in 2 of NCG games to the end, checked the players  permit and also there official identification before the start of each game and also during the half time and they were given a clean sheet. This seems to mean nothing to the alliance who only goal is to prevent NCG FC form getting promoted to the next league.

After the stoppage of the match, SportNord published the official position of Juventude with a caption “NCG FC vs Juventude match stopped after the referee was chased away, referring to the NCG FC fans. The article went further to alleged that NCG Trainer, who they described as African, short with leader jacket manhandled the referee. The reactions were to be expected. Real and imagined football forum members on sportNord and Juventude fans gave the fault to NCG FC, some called for the immediate disbandment of the team and other suggested that all foreign team from Hamburg league, refereeing to NCG FC, should be disband and some call for hard punishment and strict control from HVF queering what NCG FC was looking for the league in the first place. This account of the Article has long be dispel by the sport director. Firstly the referee stopped the match and was no in any chased out but simply pick the ball after an exchange of words at NCG FC fan corner and walk strength to the changing room ignoring plead from both team to continue with the match. Secondly NCG FC Trainer is a German, not an African as stated in the article. The sport director also wondered how the report of Juventude management and the referee should tally one to one including for example what happened as the play was going on and quarried how the referee could be at the field and have a detailed knowledge about who paid entry fee and who refused to pay. He also quarries the wisdom of HFV to invite a referee to officiate a match, who is also a player from. FC Kurdistan Welat II, a team that is in a direct promotion completion for the two or four promotion chances as the case may be.

To add fuel to the burring fire, Farmsener TV (2^nd on the table with 56 points) had for two months protested against NCG FC for alleged using one unregistered player and asked the HFV to award the point to them. On the second instance, NCG FC lost to the case on technical grounds, because the official responsible for the players pass took a wrong car to the court and forgot to produce the players pass that was left in the first car. All plead for one day grace to produce the pass fell on deaf ears. This brought NCG FC from the 2^nd position to the 4^th position. Now the same Farmsener TV (2^nd on the table with 56 points) as indicated in a written letter to the sport court by FC KS Polonia II on the request of Farmsener TV to lodge a complain against NCG FC, seeking to nullify the match against KS Polonia II which NCG FC won and to award the three points to KS Polonia II. They volunteered to provide evidences that NCG FC used one unregistered player and claimed a player left the field of play without official change and indicated this must be the unregistered player they are looking for.  The two players mentioned were produced by NCG FC and the court threw out the request but asked NCG FC to pay a fine of 120 Euro for not properly signing the play report. According to NCG FC, they are reviewing the judgment with a view to lodging a formal appeal.

While NCG FC was lucky on this, they were not so lucky on the case with Juventude. They were asked to produce the alleged fan(s) that push and insulted the referees or faces disband. The argument that it will be impossible to produce a fan without a name or proper identification fell also on the Verband deaf ear. For  now the coalition against NCG Football Club promotion to the next higher league seems to be having an upper hand and the call to through away all “foreign team” in Hamburg football league, especially those with majority of Africans  is about to be fulfilled.

Although the management of NCG FC through their sport director has distanced the team from any unruly behavior of any fan and had long pledge support for the” Cool trainer “initiative form HVF to address any short comings in the team and the Fan action, he warned that the whole team cannot and must not be held liable and punished for the behavior of one or two persons. He stressed that “who moves up to the next league should be decided on the football pitch and not on trump up charges” in Verband court room. If emotional outburst is misunderstood as aggression, both the HFV and their referees should also undergo inter-cultural competence training. Football has no color, no race or nationality.  If what we read every day on sport Nord is anything to go by, this incident is not even enough for a yellow card, definitely not enough to suspend a match talk less of disbanding a team. NCG FC or any other Club should not be disqualified in a boardroom meeting but on the football field. NCG FC Sport Director while appealing to fans who noticed the exchange of words to kindly contact the secretary as witness in the sport court, he promised he will leave no stone unturned in seeking for justice and fighting prejudice in Hamburg football.

Chris  Ono, AH-Magazine Sports