“Going ahead without us”: VfB ultras boycott Europa League match | OneFootball

Before the Europa League duel between VfB Stuttgart and Maccabi Tel Aviv this coming Thursday, protests are increasing: Large parts of the organized fan scene have announced that they will stay away from the game.

Under the motto "This game takes place without us," the ultra groups Schwabensturm Stuttgart 2002, Schwaben Kompanie Stuttgart, and Crew 36 Stuttgart declared that they would refuse to participate and explained this in an official statement on their website: "The security measures required to even hold the game demand a great sacrifice of essential elements of fan and stadium culture and do not allow us to live our way as ultras."

The ultra collective Commando Cannstatt (CC) is making an exception: With around 200 active members, this group will come to the stadium despite the protests — albeit with restrictions. "We as CC have decided to appear in the stadium and coordinate the support. However, due to organizational reasons and the enormously time-consuming (material) checks throughout the entire Cannstatter Kurve, we will refrain from using other visual elements like waving flags and double holders, except for fence flags."

The announced measures against the game — including strict entry controls with metal detectors, a ban on bags and similar items, as well as an early attendance requirement — would not only have significantly changed the stadium experience but, in the view of the boycotters, made "the way of living as ultras" practically impossible.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 THOMAS KIENZLE - AFP or licensors