BERLIN, Aug 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Niko Kovac’s Bayern Munich launch their
2019/20 season as German Cup title holders in the first round this weekend,
but the traditional season curtain-raiser will be overshadowed this year by a
string of scandals rocking football in Germany.
While coaching prodigies Julian Nagelsmann and David Wagner make their
dugout debuts for RB Leipzig and Schalke respectively, other clubs such as
Chemnitzer and Hamburg are reeling from scandals involving neo-Nazis and
alleged identity fraud.
Borussia Dortmund kick off proceedings with a visit to third-division side
KFC Uerdingen on Friday.
The match reunites 2014 World Cup winner and former Dortmund fan favourite
Kevin Grosskreutz with his old club while providing coach Lucien Favre with
another opportunity to test new signings Mats Hummels, Nico Schulz and
Thorgan Hazard.
Favre’s spruced-up squad beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the German Supercup last
weekend to pile the pressure on last season’s league and cup winners.
Bayern have been less active than Dortmund in the transfer market, and the
lack of high-profile new signings prompted criticism from star striker Robert
Lewandowski as the club chases Manchester City winger Leroy Sane.
Ahead of Bayern’s trip to fourth-tier side Energie Cottbus on Monday, the
heat is already on perennially under-fire coach Kovac.
Nagelsmann’s RB Leipzig travel to Osnabrueck on Sunday after Wagner’s
Schalke visit Drochtersen/Assel on Saturday.
– Crisis-hit Schalke –
Former Huddersfield Town manager Wagner is hoping to breathe new life into
crisis-stricken Schalke, but his preparations have been overshadowed by a
racism scandal involving club chairman Clemens Toennies.
Toennies, 63, stepped down for three months on Tuesday following widespread
outrage over comments he made about Africa during a speech last week.
Schalke are not the only German club to have been hit by a racism scandal
recently. On Monday, third-tier side Chemnitzer sacked first-team captain
Daniel Frahn over his alleged association with far-right fan groups.
Frahn’s dismissal was the latest episode in a long-running controversy over
neo-Nazis in the Chemnitzer fanbase, and according to Bild newspaper, police
fear that far-right fans may stage protests during Sunday’s cup clash with
Hamburg.
Second-division Hamburg are themselves engulfed in a media scandal after
doubts were raised over the identity of their Gambian midfielder Bakery
Jatta.
Bild newspaper claimed Jatta, who reportedly came to Germany as a refugee
in 2015, entered the country under a false identity, changing his name and
claiming to be two-and-a-half years younger than he really was so that he
could register as a minor.
Selected German Cup first-round fixtures (kick-off times 1330 GMT unless
stated):
Friday
KFC Uerdingen v Borussia Dortmund, Sandhausen v Borussia Moenchengladbach
(both 1845)
Saturday
Kaiserslautern v Mainz, Alemannia Aachen v Bayer Leverkusen, Magdeburg v
Freiburg, Drochtersen/Assel v Schalke, Atlas Delmenhorst v Werder Bremen
(1845)
Sunday
Waldhof Mannheim v Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Osnabrueck v RB Leipzig,
Germania Halberstadt v Union Berlin, VfB Eichstatt v Hertha Berlin,
Chemnitzer FC v Hamburg (1630)
Monday
Energie Cottbus v Bayern Munich (1845)