Since 2010, the Supercup has been contested again between the champions and the DFB Cup winners (or runners-up). At that time, FC Bayern Munich played against FC Schalke 04. After the cup had already existed under a different name between 1987 and 1997, the DFL brought the competition back. Initially, the DFB organized the competition.
However, the competition has been criticized time and again. Especially among active fans, the additional game is primarily a sign of the increasing commercialization of professional football. The schedule is also causing problems, as the first round of the cup for the participating teams usually has to be postponed for the Supercup. This is no different this year. For the usual Bundesliga teams, the season begins at the weekend with the first games in the DFB Cup. Stuttgart and Leverkusen, on the other hand, meet in the Supercup. Accordingly, the respective cup games take place in the middle of a Bundesliga week as an additional burden.
But this is not just an additional burden for the players. This decision is also an imposition for the fan communities of both clubs. After all, the additional English week means another game on a weekday, for which an away trip has to be organized.
The ultra groups of both clubs therefore announced on Wednesday that they wanted to boycott the game. “From our point of view, the DFL Supercup has no sporting appeal as a competition,” the Stuttgart fan groups explained on their website. “What makes matters worse is that the Supercup is being held on the cup weekend, which means that we have to play an additional, completely unnecessary English week, in our case with the away game on Tuesday in Münster,” the VfB ultras continued. And the Leverkusen team was no less critical, with the headline: “Kirmespokal instead of cup weekend – not with us!”
The match on Saturday evening (17 August, 6 p.m.) will therefore take place without the fan groups of the two Bundesliga teams. This will also damage the image of the DFL, which likes to boast about the atmosphere in German stadiums. In recent years, fan groups have repeatedly boycotted the Supercup.
