“We fought for our position”

Frank Baumann on the decision to postpone the Frankfurt game

Frank Baumann spoke in detail about the decision to cancel Sunday's game (Photo: nordphoto).
First Team
Friday, 28.02.2020 / 15:52

The cancellation of Sunday’s home game against Eintracht Frankfurt will have numerous consequences. Frank Baumann spoke to the media about the decision, “We understand Eintracht’s situation. Two games in three days isn’t ideal, but also not impossible in my opinion.” A full transcript of the press conference has been collected below.

Frank Baumann on...

...the 48 hour rule: “Normally it’s very useful. A postponement is only necessary in special cases; there has to be a clear reason for it. In this case the integrity of it must be brought into question. From my point of view, one team is given an advantage to the disadvantage of another team. In this case it would have been better to stick to the original schedule. However we have to accept it, come to terms with it and try to make the best of a bad situation.

...conversations with the decision makers: “We have been speaking to both the DFL and Eintracht since yesterday, and had constructive talks. We spoke on the phone both today and yesterday at varying lengths. We made our position very clear on the phone, and also made a written statement. We fought hard for our position. We made two viable solutions so that Eintracht would have at least 48 hours. One option would have been to postpone kick off until 20:30 CET on Sunday. We also suggested Monday, under certain conditions. But the DFL have made their decision so we have to accept it. We’re very unhappy about the situation.”

...why it wasn’t possible to move the game to Monday: “You’ll have to talk to the DFL about that. They probably would have had to move too many things around to allow for at least two days between each game. We just have to live with it; the other teams can go on as usual.”

...why it puts them at a disadvantage: “There are several disadvantages of this. One very important reason is our current situation. We made it very clear on Saturday that we had an important week ahead of us. Our full focus was on this game, and we designed our week of training around it. We would have invited fans to come to the final training session before the game and we would have started the week with a home game. Now we will probably be behind everyone else for about five games. That’s a huge disadvantage in our situation. Also it would have been an advantage for us if Frankfurt had to play this week.”

... the impact on training: “The coaching team are disappointed, we all are. We prepared really well and were all looking forward to it. We would have started what is a crucial week with a game in front of our fans. Instead we’ve now got two difficult away games ahead of us. We now have to reschedule everything; Florian is busy doing that at the moment. We will see over the next few days how we prepare for the cup game.”

...the club’s right to be heard: “The DFL is responsible for organising the fixtures. This happens in life sometimes, for example when you talk to the police. We didn’t have any power to vote against it. They made their decision.”

...Werder’s relationship with the DFL: “I don’t think that this decision can be connected to the dispute about police costs. That’s too far-fetched for me.”

...a possible date for the fixture: “There’s only one possible date at the moment, and that would be to make it a double game week between Matchday 33 and 34. Everyone can see how it wouldn’t be ideal to put us at a disadvantage in such an important week, and not be fresh for the last game of the season. The DFL are now looking to see how far Eintracht will go in the Europa League. We’re crossing our fingers for them. There are good reasons as to why the last two Matchdays take place at the same time. It would only be possible to play before that if Eintracht were knocked out.”

 

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