Marco Antwerp: One year ban for manipulative machinations!

Marco Antwerp: One year ban for manipulative machinations!

The football scene in Germany is currently rocked by a sensational scandal involving Marco Antwerp and his former assistant Frank Döpper. Both coaches, who most recently worked at VfL Osnabrück, were convicted by the DFB sports court for attempted match-fixing. Antwerp has to take a year off, while Döpper was suspended for three months. How News38 reports, Antwerp was a former successful coach at Eintracht Braunschweig, where he led the club to the second Bundesliga in 2019/20. However, his time there ended abruptly when he was released after promotion.

The allegations against Antwerp and Döpper arose after Antwerp was surprisingly dismissed by VfL Osnabrück. The DFB control committee had originally called for a harsher punishment: 14 months' ban and 3,000 euros fine for Antwerp and a four-month ban and 500 euros for Döpper. But the sports court decided otherwise, and the case was decided in over five hours of negotiations Sports show reported.

The background to the allegations

The core of the indictment is Antwerp's request to urge its athletic trainer Tim Schütte to stop a Blau-Weiß Lohne player, Bernd Riesselmann, from playing. At that time, Riesselmann was on loan from Osnabrück to Lohne and wanted to continue playing. According to his own statements, the athletic trainer felt under pressure and stated that it was not his wish to contact Riesselmann. Ultimately, Riesselmann rejected the request and informed his advisor. In the state cup final, Riesselmann then scored a goal in his team's 4-2 win, which only reinforced the absurdity of the situation.

Both coaches had already lost their jobs at VfL Osnabrück without notice because of the incidents on May 27th, and lawsuits against these dismissals are currently underway. The labor court will hear the case after an inconclusive conciliation hearing in mid-December, as well fr.de reported.

Next steps for Antwerp and Döpper

For Antwerp and Döpper it is now a matter of accepting the sentences imposed or possibly filing an appeal because the verdict is not yet final. In its decision, the DFB sports court took the previous statements from Schütte and Riesselmann into account and came to the conclusion that there was undue influence from the coaches. The clocks in the football business are now telling a different tune for both of them, while their future as coaches remains uncertain.

The developments surrounding this scandal cast a shadow over the integrity of football and show how quickly a coach's career can turn around. The football world will be watching closely to see how the situation develops and whether Antwerp and Döpper can return to the coaching bench.