1989 Klötzli incident

One of the most discussed scenes in Swiss football took place, on 7 October 1989, the Klötzli incident. The injury time was running in the Nationalliga A match between FC Sion and FC Wettingen as the away team scored a goal. Everyone in the stadium thinks it is the equaliser, except one, the referee. He blows the whistle while the ball is still in the air. The game is thus finished, no goal. Four FCW players then attack the referee, who then escapes into the cabin from kicks and punches. The scandal is perfect. The consequences are bans lasting several months and big fines. The incident is still considered as one of the biggest scandals in Swiss football.[1]

Course of event

The match

It was a foggy October evening: The third minute of injury time in the league match in the Stade Tourbillon between Sion and Wettingen is already running. Thanks to a goal from Mirsad Baljic in the 88th minute, Sion lead 1–0 against their opponents who, despite their European high against FC Napoli a few days earlier, is in financial difficulties and fighting against relegation.

Sions midfielder Jean-Paul Brigger can take a relief free-kick just a few meters from his own penalty area. But instead of kicking the ball far forward, he delays the execution and finally, as takes the kick, the ball hits Wettingen's Salvatore Romano in the middle of his back. From there, the leather lands in front of the feet of Wettingen's captain Martin Rueda. He then did not hesitate, moved towards the Sion goal and beat keeper Stephan Lehmann with a wonderful lob to make it 1-1. While the ball is in the air and finding its way into the goal, referee Bruno Klötzli looks at his watch, and not to the ball, and notices that the three-minute stoppage time has expired. He blew his whistle. The game is over, the equaliser does not count.

The Wettinger players are stunned, this decision allows them to break all safeguards. The anger is directed against referee Klötzli and the players chase him across the Sion stadium. Four FCW players then attack the referee and in the confusing situation, Klötzli tries to tear himself away and protect himself, running to escape from the verbal assaults, the kicks and the punches towards the stands and to the player entrance and into the referee's cabin.

People involved

Referee Bruno Klötzli, an up and coming SFV referee, who would have become FIFA Referee in 1990. Klötzli reports the case to the SFV and his statements are tough. From his match report can be seen: player number 12 Martin Frei (the uncle of Alex Frei) attacked him by jumping into his legs with both feet. Player number 3 Alex Germann struck him with a first punch on the shoulder and a second punch in the stomach. Player number 9 Reto Baumgartner jumped into his back with both knees, whereupon the referee almost fell. Player number 6 Roger Kundert kicked him in the buttocks.[2]

Statements

"I was very scared," said Klötzli after the scandal game. "If I had stumbled, I would certainly have ended up in the hospital." But he gets away unharmed. To the moment of his whistle he said: "I made no mistakes in terms of control technology. But I have to admit that the moment of the final whistle was not exactly well chosen psychologically."

"Sure, I ran over to him," confessed Kundert. "Maybe I touched the referee in the crowd. But I definitely didn't kick him. Anything but two or three penalty Sundays would be a scandal." Baumgartner described the situation like this: "I was totally aggressive, capable of anything. But I couldn't even get near to him." Germann said: "I'm quite sure I didn't strike him." After they had seen the television images, they showed more insight. "The scenes that happened there are inexcusable," says Kundert. Baumgarnter warns that both he and Klötzli made a mistake.[2]

Even 30 years later the then Sion team manager Yves Débonnaire remembers, "The anxious face of the poor referee Klötzli and the violence of the Wettinger players have burned into my brain. Forever."[3]

Consequences

Professional bans

On the basis of the TV pictures and the referee report, the SFV condemn the four players with long bans and big fines. In the second instance, the Association Sports Court even tightened the professional bans, the results of which are as follows. The professional ban for Roger Kundert was for four months, for Martin Frei was increased from 6 to 8 months and the ban for Reto Baumgartner was increased from 7 to 10 months. Each were fined 10,000 Swiss Francs. Alex Germann, who was about complete a transfer to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, is hit hardest, with a one-year suspension and a fine of CHF 20,000 Swiss francs.[4]

Ensuing

Just seven weeks after the game in Sion, Roger Kundert tore a cruciate ligament during training. Because his right knee could no longer withstand the stresses of professional sport, he retired from active football in the spring of 1990. The then 30-year-old Martin Frei vented his anger, wrote the association bosses a sharp letter and decided to end his career immediately. Alex Germann trained for a year with FC Wettingen and then returned as professional player, but the planned move to the Bundesliga and Borussia Dortmund no longer came about.[5]

Reto Baumgartner's contract with FC Wettingen expired. He then continued his career with FC Basel, played for another four years in the Nationalliga B and he later became a professional beach soccer player. Since FC Basel's AGM in 2008, Baumgartner is member of the club's board of directors.[6] At the club's annual general meeting in November 2020 he was elected as the new chairman.[7][8]

Half a year later, referee Klötzli also ended his refereeing career. The Sion scandal was his last game in the highest level. But things got worse. He became addicted to gambling, poker, and got on the wrong track. He landed in debt and got problems with his job, which he then lost. In 1999 he was sentenced to a conditional prison term of 18 months for forgery and abuse of confidence. As a bank employee, Klötzli embezzled a total of CHF 800,000 between 1990 and 1993. The former scandal referee now lives in seclusion in the canton of Jura, where he ran a restaurant with his wife. They retired at the end of 2017.[3]

Notes

References
  1. blick.ch. "Das sind die grössten Skandale im Schweizer Fussball". These are the biggest scandals in Swiss football. blick.ch. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  2. Philipp Reich (7 October 2014). "Der "Fall Klötzli" – vier Wettinger gehen auf den Schiri los, weil dieser Sekunden vor dem Ausgleich abpfeift". The "Klötzli case" - four wettinger players attack the referee because the referee whistles seconds before the equalizer. watson online. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  3. Max Kern (2019). "Ref Klötzli erinnert sich an den Skandal vom Tourbillon". Referee Klötzli remembers the tourbillon scandal. blick.ch. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  4. SFL Glory (1989). "L'"Affaire Kloetzli"". The Kloetzli incident. SFL Glory. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  5. SFL Glory online (1989). "The Klötzli incident". Der «Fall Klötzli». Online-Archiv der Swiss Football League. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  6. FC Basel 1893. "Verwaltungsrat und Vorstand". FC Basel homepage. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. FC Basel 1893. "The results of the votes and elections of the AGM". FC Basel homepage. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  8. red. (24 November 2020). "Vom "Schiedsrichter-Jäger" – zum Fussball-Präsidenten". From “referee hunter” - to football president. causasportnews.com. Retrieved 2020-11-24.

Sources
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