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Former national goalkeeper Tim Wiese in front of the Bremen Regional Court
Photo: Sina Schuldt / dpa
The former national football goalkeeper and Werder Bremen player, Tim Wiese, has denied in court that he made racist remarks at the Weser Stadium. "These allegations are outrageous," his defense attorney told the Bremen District Court.
Werder Bremen had imposed a stadium ban on his former goalkeeper until the end of the year. Wiese wants to avert this in court – but without success on the first day of the trial.
During a visit to the stadium at the home game against Bayer Leverkusen in mid-March, he is said to have racially insulted a service employee. She described in court how she walked past Tim Wiese and another man that day with a tray in her hand. "I recognised him straight away because I'm a fan of his too," said the 20-year-old. She had heard that Wiese had insulted her because of her skin color.
"That really hit me hard." She told her supervisor about it at the end of her shift and was only able to calm down when talking to her mother.
Another waitress reported racist jokes in the box, where the former goalkeeper had also been. Three witnesses who accompanied Wiese that day – including his 17-year-old daughter – said they were unaware of the alleged incidents.
"The club couldn't do anything else"
Werder reacted by banning the former goalkeeper, who made a total of 2005 competitive appearances for Bremen between 2012 and 266. "The club couldn't do anything else," argued a lawyer for Werder Bremen. The club had already distanced itself from Wiese in the past because he was said to have had contact with the right-wing scene.
On 13 December, the court will announce how the trial will continue. Further witnesses could not be heard until early next year. Then the stadium ban against Tim Wiese would have expired anyway – and it would only be a matter of the principle and the costs of the proceedings.
vgl/dpa