Suspended Union coach – new allegations become public

In the case of the banned Jens Härtel, further incidents come to light. Jens Härtel resigned from his position as U19 coach at Union Berlin on October 11th. He had previously been banned from working for 12 weeks by the DFB. Background: three incidents with discriminatory statements. This editorial team had already reported on one of these incidents during the week. Now the “Berliner Kurier” provides further details.

Case 1: the “Africa table”

At the summer training camp in Opalenica, Poland, the young players were supposed to consciously form new seating groups while eating. When Alec Shabany (18), Michael Etobe (17) and Sadou Barry (18) - who have their roots in Cameroon or, in Barry's case, in Guinea - sat next to each other again, Härtel asked, according to his own account, whether this was the “Africa table” again.

In a statement to the DFB, which is available to the “Berliner Kurier”, Härtel admits: The formulation was “unwise and counterproductive”. “The statement was made against the background that, in my opinion, the team building measure we had planned had not been implemented as intended at this point,” explains Härtel, according to the report. A personal disparagement was not intended. Härtel apologized to the team and the three players.

Case 2: “Foreign Association”

After the 2-3 cup defeat against Berliner AK, Härtel is said to have said: “We will lose against this foreign club.” He couldn't remember the exact wording, but he didn't want to rule it out. In his statement, Härtel points out that he himself was a coach at BAK from 2011 to 2013: "At that time, too, the club was influenced by people with a migrant background and had teams that were very diverse in terms of their origins. The Berliner AK was sometimes referred to as a 'foreign club' at the time." At the time, he did not perceive the term as discriminatory.

Case 3: the homophobic saying

The third accusation is also serious. Härtel is said to have commented on a player's unsuccessful action with a homophobic phrase. He is said to have said, “Don’t shoot or play like a gay man.”

Härtel said in his statement: “After consultation with the coaching team (…) the statement was made: ‘Don’t play such a fag ball’”. The saying was “inappropriate and misplaced,” but it referred to the action and not to a player’s sexual identity. He apologized for that too.

The result, however, was a twelve-week ban and resignation from Union. The DFB saw violations of its legal and procedural rules as well as the training regulations. Härtel's explanations and apologies did not prevent the sanction.