Labour court: German club right to fire coach in manipulation case
Marco Antwerpen (R) and Frank Doepper, former coaches of third-division club VfL Osnabrueck, take their seats in the courtroom at the start of an oral hearing before the DFB Sports Court at the DFB Campus. Arne Dedert/dpa German third division club Osnabrück had the right to dismiss their coach and assistant without notice last year over match manipulation allegations, a labour court ruled on Thursday. The Osnabrück court dismissed appeals from ex-coach Marco Antwerpen and his then assistant Frank Döpper against the club sanction in connection with a regional Cup final.
The court said it considered it proven that the two "deliberately and seriously intended to influence the final match by improperly manipulating the loaned player in order to give VfL Osnabrück an advantage. This behaviour ultimately justified the extraordinary dismissals without notice on May 27, 2025. " The ruling can be appealed at a higher labour court in the Lower Saxony state.
Antwerpes and Döpper were accused to have asked Osnabrück's fitness coach Tim Schütte twice before a regional Cup final on May 24 against Lohne to persuade player Bernd Riesselmann, who was on loan at Lohne from Osnabrück at the time, not to play. Riesselmann, now back at Osnabrück, refused to sit out the match in which he scored and he informed his agent. Antwerpen and Döpper had their contracts until 2027 cancelled without notice after the events became known internally at Osnabrück a few days after the match.
Both denied the accusations and the case went before the labour court after a settlement failed. Antwerpen was also banned for 12 months and Döpper for three months by a German FA sports court. Upon appeal Antwerpen's ban was reduced to three months while Döpper's was nullified.