Investigations against Hansa Rostock fans after swastika photos in England

The public prosecutor's office and the police station in Rostock have initiated an investigation against FC Hansa football fans. The background is that the hooligans are said to have posed in front of a swastika flag at the end of July on the sidelines of a friendly match at Watford FC in England. In a joint statement, the public prosecutor's office and the police spoke of the suspicion of using the symbols of unconstitutional organizations. The investigation is still ongoing.

At the beginning of September, the research portal “Exif” published photos showing a group of Hansa fans in England in front of a swastika flag and wearing clothing with right-wing extremist symbols. According to the report, the group also had brawls with hooligans from Scotland's Glasgow Rangers and French club Olympique Lyon during that away trip.

Bundeswehr soldiers involved?

According to a report in the “Ostsee-Zeitung”, the military counterintelligence service is currently checking whether Bundeswehr soldiers were also involved in the incidents in England during their free time. “The facts are known to the Military Counterintelligence Service and are currently being examined,” said a spokesman for the military intelligence service MAD to “OZ”. “The Military Counterintelligence Service takes any indication of extremism in the Bundeswehr very seriously.”

The third division football team FC Hansa Rostock reacted immediately after the publication of the “Exif” research and announced stadium bans and club exclusions against the people in question, “as long as they were club members.

“Right-wing extremism, National Socialist symbolism and inhumane ideas have influenced the F.C. Hansa Rostock has no place,” the club wrote in a statement. "We will not allow people with such behavior to discredit our club and its fans or to convey an image of Hansa that in no way corresponds to our self-image and our values."