Derby Boycott - Support or not - BVB coach Klopp clarifies his position
When asked about the derby boycott Jürgen Klopp was quoted: "I like that our people do not go there to finance Jan Klaas Huntelaar". This statement was enough for some German media to come up with the story, that Klopp actually called people to boycott the derby. The campaign of the BVB supporters was once again perceived as the usual pre-derby fuss.
As if the boycott was being organized to protest against our rivals signing of expensive players despite their debts being rumoured to be between 200-300m €. The fact that this approach is meant to lead to a sustainable campaign against high ticket prices was once again widely ignored by the media. When asked about the boycott again in today´s press conference coach Klopp took the opportunity to clarify his attitude towards the boycott and the tactics of the media. To prevent future misunderstandings we provide you with a complete transcript of his statement.
Jürgen Klopp:
"I´ve been asked 25 times about the boycott during this one interview. I am headcoach of Borussia Dortmund and was not very well informed about the subject at that time. But when you ask me about our fans, it is absolutely normal, that I appreciate what they do as long as it´s legal and does not involve fist fights etc.
And I actually do understand their problem. These peolpe have put a lot of thinking into this. The clubs should not set the ticket prices at random, but there are various reasons that lead to price increases. And at this point this has led to more than 1.500 fans refusing to visit this important game even though they had already bought the tickets. That´s a legitimate action.
Basically I prefer the stadium to be packed and of course to be filled with our supporters. But what makes this really inconvenient to me is the fact that I talked to one journalist, who supposedly realised that I did not make a serious statement, when I mentioned Huntelaar. And then everybody starts to use this one quote to tell a totally different story of me appealing to people to boycott the derby.
What is being made up is just ridiculous. And I find it downright stupid, because I am known for my repartee and in the end it gets taken as serious as the evening news. That will only lead to me not answering questions. To make this clear: I have never called people to boycott the derby and I won´t do that in the future. I just hope that our fans who go see the game will create an atmosphere that enables us to take something home from there.
But you can just continue to write what you want, that´s cool with me, too."
Web 09.09.2010
