Accusation against professional footballer: How the Jatta case brings HSV into trouble

Hamburger SV is in a quandary because of the indictment against Bakery Jatta.

Should the second division football club continue to use the winger or, due to the uncertain legal situation, order it to the stands for the time being?

Because if Gambier is convicted, who, according to the Hamburg public prosecutor's office, was only given a residence permit because of a false identity, things can get complicated.

Games could be rotated after protests, and the table would then be shaken.

The German Football League (DFL) would have to revoke Jatta's license if convicted. In that case it would be clear that the professional “never had a license to play. He should therefore not have been used by HSV, ”said lawyer Benjamin Keck from the Cologne law firm Steinrücke Sausen. The objection period against defeats or draws in games against HSV with Jatta is two days. Only in the case of match-fixing or the use of doped players, according to the DFL game rules, the two-day period does not apply in this form. Protests can now be filed as a precautionary measure.

Whether appeals are justified will be decided when the Altona District Court allows the indictment and Jatta should be convicted in the further course.

Then the DFL would have to convert winless games of the competitors who protested into a 2-0 draw against HSV.

Since the process will drag on for a long time, the DFL and the German Football Association are in a mess.

How should a past season with promoted and relegated be corrected when the new season is already running?

There was still no precedent for this.

A hefty fine is possible

It is possible that HSV will come to an agreement with every upcoming opponent in such a way that they will refrain from protesting against a Jatta mission. However, it is uncertain whether the rivals will play along. The alternative: HSV does without the Gambier. Coach Tim Walter would hardly like that. The 23-year-old Jatta, who according to the prosecutor's office is called Bakary Daffeh and is 26 years old, has played all 16 games this season and is one of the pillars of the Hamburg offensive. With his speed on the outside lane, he manages like no other to get behind the attacking rows of the opposing team and bring the ball in front of the goal.

Possible protests will not be directed against Jatta, who is neither known as a foul player in the league nor has other resentments from his competitors.

But the Hanseatic League shouldn't hope for solidarity with him and HSV.

When it comes to placements, TV money, promotion or relegation, charity ends in the tough football business.

"Football is so commercialized that a managing director cannot make the decision completely freely," said Keck, who specializes as a lawyer specializing in labor law in the sports industry.

To protect Jatta, the following scenario would also be conceivable: a termination of his contract with HSV.

In this case, Jatta could go abroad and continue his career there.

His contract in Hamburg runs until summer 2024.

In the event of a possible conviction of Jatta, according to adult criminal law, a prison sentence for violating the Residence Act would be a conceivable guilty verdict. "In juvenile criminal law, however, the focus is on prevention," said Keck. Therefore it would probably amount to a hefty fine. If it turns out that when applying for a residence permit in Germany, Jatta was not 17, but 20 years old as stated, he is considered an adolescent up to the age of 21 - still a case for the juvenile judge. This makes the decision on the application of juvenile or adult criminal law.

After the charges were brought, HSV coach Tim Walter clearly stood behind the striker. “Baka is a good-hearted boy. He's one of us, ”Hamburg media quoted the coach as saying the same thing on Thursday. “The club stands by him. We as a team stand by him. He knows that we will always stand by him. ”That said everything, said the 46-year-old coach.

Walter had already commented on the case shortly after the discussions about Jatta began in August 2019.

At that time, as coach of the then second division club VfB Stuttgart, he had shown incomprehension that some clubs had protested against the valuation of games against HSV with reference to the Jatta cause.

“When a game is played and the opponent has won, then he has rightly won,” he said at the time.

"If I then need to steal the points due to some circumstance, then it has nothing to do with sport."