1. FC Union Berlin will appeal against the DFB sports court's re-evaluation of the Bundesliga match against VfL Bochum. This was decided by the club's executive committee this Thursday evening.

Union president Dirk Zingler explained the decision: "It's bad enough that people repeatedly throw objects onto stages, into indoor areas or onto the pitch at concerts or sporting events. Unfortunately, there's nothing that any event organiser can do to prevent it. This makes it all the more important to identify these people, remove them from the event and impose the maximum possible penalty on them to deter potential copycats.

However, it is much worse when someone tries to gain an advantage from these events, which cannot be prevented by any organiser, especially when uninvolved third parties are also significantly disadvantaged as a result. This is the case here: the actual unsportsmanlike scandal took place on the pitch and in court today.

We will therefore use all legal means at our disposal and appeal against today's verdict. This verdict does enormous damage to football, but will not prevent the unacceptable throwing of objects. Rather, we run the risk that in the future, it will not be the sporting performance of the teams that decides the outcome of a game, but possible abuse, insults, smoke or even the throwing of an object.

Whether there is an impairment or weakening for one side, whether the game is abandoned or continued, must always be the sole decision of the referee. If the beneficiary party can declare themselves as weakened, we no longer need impartial referees and the door is open to fraud or even dirty tricks. The disadvantaged parties will never be able to prove the opposite.

Today's ruling also shows that the often-used ‘attribution’ of an event to a club is questionable, often even wrong. If the consequences of this extend to the detriment of uninvolved clubs, it becomes completely absurd."