No new proceedings against Hedl, minus points for Rapid

Rapid has to start the coming season in the Bundesliga with a loss of two points. Senate 1 of the league made this decision in view of security-related incidents at the Vienna derby against Austria on February 25th. “The deduction of one point, which was conditionally reviewed by the protest committee on February 29, 2024, will be revoked and a further unconditional deduction of one point will be issued,” the league announced on Tuesday evening.

The Hütteldorfers were punished for violating security at games, misusing pyrotechnics and discriminatory fan chants. The incident is classified as “third serious”. Rapid also has to pay a fine of 40,000 euros.

A further 20,000 euros were granted conditionally if structural changes were made to a stadium gate. The club announced a protest with the announcement that it wanted to take further legal action. Until further notice, they do not want to make any further comment on this decision.

In addition, Senate 1 also dealt with a newly surfaced video on Tuesday that shows, among others, goalkeeper Niklas Hedl and offensive player Marco Grüll loudly insulting the Favoriten district, home of city rivals Austria, with chants in the VIP club. “The Senate has assessed the contents of the video according to the fact that the players Niklas Hedl, Marco Grüll and Thorsten Schick visible in the video are offenses that have already been admitted and were therefore dealt with and convicted in a trial that has taken place. This is against the players did not open new proceedings,” it said.

However, proceedings will probably be opened against assistant coach Daniel Seper. “He could not be seen on any of the videos known to date, so the facts of his case could not be assessed to date,” the league explained. Previously, another assistant coach, Stefan Kulovits, had received a three-month suspension, one month of which was conditional, due to discrimination. Managing director Steffen Hofmann was banned from working for two months, one month of which was unconditional, for defamation. In addition, the players Grüll, Guido Burgstaller, Schick and Maximilian Hofmann were punished with suspensions.

The Hütteldorfers defeated Austria 3-0 on February 25th and won a home derby for the first time in ten years. In the days that followed, disturbing videos emerged that had been recorded during the victory celebrations. First, it became public that managing director Hofmann was handing out heavy doses against his city rivals. Hours later, a recording showed and heard Kulovits as well as Burgstaller, Grüll, Schick, Hofmann and Hedl singing offensive and sometimes homophobic chants against Austria.

After a protest from Rapid, Hedl’s unconditional ban was converted into a conditional one. The league’s protest committee saw the 22-year-old goalkeeper’s age as a mitigating factor. “In addition, he was more on the sidelines and was the least actively involved of all the players,” the Bundesliga explained at the time. Hedl was therefore able to play in the decisive game for entry into the championship group against Austria Klagenfurt and showed a strong performance in the 1-1 draw in Klagenfurt, which was enough to secure promotion. After the new video he got away with a “black eye” again.

The local rival was also punished. Austria has to pay 60,000 euros for misuse of pyrotechnic objects. The incident was classified as “first serious”. The Austrians had to start last season with three minus points due to a license violation. Now the people of Hütteldorf are threatened with a similar fate.

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