There is even said to have been a regional league team where the club president’s son, who was largely uninterested in football, suddenly found himself on the substitutes’ bench. This is one example of many of how resourceful you sometimes have to be in the fourth division in order to comply with the U23 rule – for both full-time and volunteer workers it is one of the most annoying homework tasks. At the regional league newcomer TSV Schwaben Augsburg they had of course also heard that at least four players in the squad at the start of the season must be under 23 years old and eligible to play for the German national team. But as Swabia sports director Max Wuschek admits: That was just “somewhere in the back of my mind”. The club had apparently lost track of everything with licensing, changing stadiums, squad planning and countless other tasks. And probably violated paragraph 25 of the game rules again and again for months.
This week, the Bavarian Football Association’s sports court ruled that Augsburg would be deducted nine points from three games they won. As soon as the verdict is final, the Swabians would be level on points with Türkgücü Munich at the bottom of the table. And league leaders FC Schweinfurt would have extended their lead over FC Bayern Munich II from one to four points. “We communicated openly and honestly that we had violated the rule,” admits Wuschek. Nevertheless, the message in the email inbox was initially a “shock” because of the sentence. Now the club has announced an appeal.
It was clear that the case required top legal efforts from everyone involved because the verdict took two months to arrive. Two things in particular are now noticeable: Schweinfurt, Wacker Burghausen and Türkgücü are all equally awarded three points, even though Schweinfurt’s 0-2 defeat against the Swabians was already six weeks ago at the time of the objection and a two-week deadline is actually provided. At least that’s what it says in paragraph 12b of the DFB game regulations. However, the Bavarian Regional League playing regulations refer to paragraph 12, but not to paragraph 12b, as the Bavarian Football Association said when asked. Apparently people are more relaxed about an appeal from Schwaben Augsburg than another protest from Schweinfurt. Then there could be fundamental questions nationwide that only have to be clarified by judges if there are plaintiffs.
Schweinfurt had made a similar mistake in a Toto cup game – and was eliminated despite the win
Second: Augsburg’s case is actually reminiscent of that of 1. FC Saarbrücken. The third division team had a player in the squad in 2021 who also had German citizenship but had already played U-national games for Croatia. Although this does not prevent him from joining the German senior national team, he would first have to apply for a change; Until then, there is no formal right to play. At that time, Saarbrücken did not have any points deducted, but had to pay a fine of 30,000 euros. Incidentally, FC Schweinfurt made a similar mistake in a Toto Cup game in 2018, which is why the Schnüdel were eliminated despite a win. At that time, the sporting director Gerd Klaus had to resign.
Despite the complexity, it is remarkable that no one noticed Augsburg’s regular violation of the rules for months. Club representatives have long complained that player status is not displayed in the electronic match reporting system. An early warning system would help to avoid formal errors. By the way, such a system already existed, but it was abolished in the higher amateur classes as a result of digitalization. It said: passport control.
