On the journey to the away game at Bayer Leverkusen (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.), VfL Wolfsburg players caused a scandal on the train. As a WDRreporter observed, some professionals ignored the applicable mask requirement and even made fun of it. The club announced consequences.
According to the reporter, who happened to be in the same compartment, some Wolfsburg players left their mouth and nose protection down despite the FFP2 mask requirement, which is required by law in the ICE. The masks hung below the chin, by the ear or were not worn at all.
The players reacted with loud laughter to multiple hints from a train attendant. Defender Micky van de Ven even underlined his rejection by wearing the mask like a hat on his head.
Goalkeeper Pavao Pervan was admonished four times – the train attendant finally introduced her request with “I’m getting embarrassed to say it…”. Pervan’s teammate Paulo Otavio then recommended that he put on the mask for a short time when a railway employee could be seen.
Compared to the WDRreporter, the train attendant described the players’ behavior as “disrespectful”. While the club on board the train has yet to comment on what is happening, it later split WDR-Request with: “We can only apologize for this and will investigate the matter.” The club later published a detailed statement on its website.
VfL Wolfsburg: Statement in full
“When VfL Wolfsburg arrived on Friday for the away game at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, there was intolerable misconduct on the part of some VfL team members on the Deutsche Bahn train to Cologne. As reported by a journalist from WDR documented and later published, the majority of the players did not wear a mouth and nose cover while driving, which is mandatory for train journeys. In addition, some players are said to have behaved disrespectfully towards the railway staff when they pointed out the obligation to wear a mask.
On behalf of the entire team, VfL Wolfsburg sincerely apologizes for the unprofessional and inappropriate behavior of its players and especially the staff of Deutsche Bahn for their disrespectful behavior, which has never happened before and also does not match the usual behavior of the team is in no way compatible with the values of VfL Wolfsburg, is not tolerated and must not happen again.
VfL head coach Niko Kovac addressed the misconduct in front of the assembled team immediately after arriving at the team hotel on Friday. A detailed review of the incident will take place after returning from Leverkusen.”
