Karlsruhe fans call for the Salzburg test to be canceled
More than 40 Karlsruher SC fan clubs are calling for the cancellation of a test match against the Austrian first division club Red Bull Salzburg. “The active fan scene, the fans in Karlsruhe in general, are very critical of the Red Bull ‘construct’ in football,” said Marco Fuchs, chairman of the Karlsruhe supporters, the SWR. “These values, which we want to represent as a club, are actually being trampled on if you also offer the Red Bull product a platform here in football.”
The second division team will test against the Austrian series champions in the training camp in Estepona, Spain on January 20th. KSC sports director Oliver Kreuzer said about the fans’ criticism. “Of course we dealt with this topic, but in the end we decided to do it for sporting reasons. Our agency was only able to broadcast Salzburg as the opponent for our desired date. The entire time in Estepona is planned accordingly, so another date was not possible .” On the other hand, he ruled out tests in his own stadium against the RB clubs.
Provocations against RB Leipzig in Karlsruhe
In the past, there have always been protests about games by RB Leipzig or Red Bull Salzburg. Fan groups were also sometimes critical of transfers from Leipzig games, for example when goalkeeper Tim Schreiber switched to Hallesches FC last year.
When RB Leipzig played in the second division in Karlsruhe in 2015, KSC fans unrolled a poster with the slogan “RB deserves a beating”. The Ultras smashed a huge cardboard Red Bull can.