OFC season planning: now it all depends on Schott Mainz

Offenbach – It is still possible to play an entire season, says Sobotzik. Meanwhile, TSV Schott Mainz is developing to tip the scales.

If you want to know how extreme are the worlds colliding in the Southwest Football Regionalliga, we recommend that you watch the video of the press conference on YouTube that took place on October 30th after the match between Kickers Offenbach and TSV Schott Mainz. In it Sascha Meeth complains of his suffering. “You are here in heaven, believe me,” says the guest coach as he sits on the podium in the spacious press room of the noble Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium. His team trains in the evening, but – due to the crown – the use of the changing rooms and shower is not allowed. Players should go home “soaking wet” when it rains: “It’s crazy”.

OFC seasonal planning: restart not in sight

So it’s no wonder that TSV Schott Mainz is the only one of the four Southwestern Rhineland-Palatinate regional divisions that hasn’t yet tried to train and play again. But this is exactly the prerequisite for the continuation of the season. Thomas Sobotzik, however, does not see the TSV as a lateral driver, but rather sees the statements as criticisms of the authorities: “I think they just want different framework conditions,” says the CEO of Kickers. This is supported by the fact that Meeth had expressed hope at the aforementioned press conference that he would still be playing many games.

But it seems unlikely, at least in view of this year. According to Regionalliga Südwest GbR, things can only continue at the beginning of December, when all teams will be able to train from 17 November. If this does not happen until December, there could be another three days of play in 2020. The situation will be discussed with the clubs today in a video conference.

Reduced training at OFC

Since there is no competitive match on the weekend (instead an internal test was planned, in which U19 players are also used), the kickers are training this week “reduced”, says Sobotzik. “But we are preparing as if it will continue in December.” What if it doesn’t happen? “We still have enough time”, stresses the CEO of the OFC. If – which is possible – the end of the season is postponed to July 15, they still have “28 catch-up appointments during the week and six weekends off” (for 30 match days to come), Sobotzik says. The “minimum goal of playing only one game” (Felix Wiedemann, Deputy Director of Regionalliga Südwest GbR) is therefore not the likely scenario for him: “It doesn’t have to be a question of availability or number of spectators. Even if you are an insolvent club you can continue playing. The continuation of game operations has the highest priority. If one, two or three teams are not allowed to play, the question of proportionality arises. So there are tools to make this possible. “(By Christian Düncher)