Austrian coach Ralf Rangnick has left three players involved in homophobic chants from his latest squad.
Rapid Vienna’s Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grull and Niklas Hedl were among those filmed singing offensive songs after their team’s 3–0 win over Austria Vienna on February 26.
Together with fans and Rapid staff, they sang ‘Wir sind keine oaschwoamen Veilchen’, which translates as ‘we are not little a***-loving violets’.
Violets refer to the colors of their opponents and ‘Arschwarmer’ is a common – but homophobic – insult in Austrian football.
The moment was filmed and shared on X, prompting Rapid to issue a public apology.
Austrian national coach Ralf Rangnick has left out three Rapid Vienna players involved in homophobic chants from his latest squad for the friendlies against Slovakia and Turkey this month
Rapid Vienna’s Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grull and Niklas Hedl were among those filmed singing offensive songs after their team’s 3-0 win over Austria Vienna.
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But the actions have had consequences, with former Manchester United interim boss Rangnick leaving striker Burgstaller, midfielder Grull and goalkeeper Hedl out of his squad for friendlies against Slovakia and Turkey later this month.
“(The players must) address this issue seriously and understand what it means to people when they are publicly insulted and discriminated against in such a way,” Rangnick said.
‘That is something I will not tolerate in my team. Everything we stand for with the national team is diametrically at the other end of the value scale.’
Rangnick, 65, said the door remains open for the trio to return for Austria’s Euro 2024 squad, where they have been drawn against France, the Netherlands and a play-off winner in their group.
“Everything else depends on the guys showing what they really think and where they stand attitude-wise,” Rangnick said. “You can say a lot, it’s all about what their behavior looks like.”
Rapid released a statement the day after the incident, saying: “You can see and hear inappropriate and offensive statements that should not have been made in this way and for which SK Rapid as a whole can only ask for forgiveness.”
Burgstaller, 34, who played 26 times for Austria, said: “Unfortunately we cannot undo this mistake.
‘In this way, we would also like to clearly distance ourselves from any form of discrimination and homophobia and apologize to anyone we have offended directly or indirectly through our behavior.
The 34-year-old striker Guido Burgstaller is the most experienced of the trio with 26 caps for Austria
Midfielder Marco Grull (left) and goalkeeper Niklas Hedl (right) were also involved in the homophobic chant and left out the latest Austrian squad.
Rangnick stressed that the door remains open for the trio to be part of Austria’s Euro 2024 squad
“We are aware that we have a role model effect, and unfortunately we absolutely did not live up to this role with our actions after the match.”
Grull, 25, who has played four times for his country, apologized on Instagram: ‘I would also like to take this opportunity to personally apologize to everyone for the words I said after the Vienna derby.
‘As players we have a certain role model function and we certainly did not fulfill that function in this situation. I can only sincerely apologize for this and assure you that we will bear the full consequences.
‘Like my teammates, I clearly distance myself from any form of marginalization; Homophobia should have no place in our society. In short, the only thing left to say is: sorry!’
Grull will join German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen next season.
Goalkeeper Hedl, 22, has only played once for Austria and would not necessarily be included in the squad anyway.
Austria continues its build-up to the European Championship with friendlies against Slovakia in Bratislava on March 23 and Turkey in Vienna on March 26.
