“There’s a very active ultrasound, and they’re quite progressive on issues like homophobia and racism,” he said, “problems that unite ultra-fractions.” “But as far as I know, they are not part of the broader fan organizations. They are not connected because they are not really accepted. “
Mucki acknowledges that he is, for many, an impossible contradiction: someone who can be considered an RB Leipzig ultra. The emotions generated by watching the team win are real, but his relationship with his club is complicated, layered. “The bond I have with the team is a love-hate thing,” he said.
Mucki and his colleagues are obviously aware of the way their team is viewed by their peers across the country. Although he is quick to point out that “only a few clubs are not world companies” – even Dortmund have sold the naming rights to their stadium – he does not hide behind accusations of hypocrisy. “I understand the points they make,” he said. ‘But it’s easy to point these things out. We are trying to change them. ”
They have had some success. He believes the Red Aces were integral to helping the club foster an ‘open-minded, tolerant’ environment that provided support for refugees and staged demonstrations against Pegida, the Islamophobic group that first gained prominence in Dresden. before spreading across Germany.
Earlier this year, however, Red Aces were disbanded. In part, Mucki said, its members were “tired”, not of outside hostility, but of resistance from the club itself. “They want an organized fan culture, but they don’t want it to be critical,” he said. “They want us to participate in certain processes – we were invited to give our views on the refurbishment of the stadium – but on others they tried to keep us entertained.”
That was a particular problem when it came not only to pyrotechnics – the club, he said, issued statements condemning fireworks displays “within minutes” – but to anything that could be considered political. Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s head of football, has publicly stated that he does not believe sports and politics should mix, an idea that is anathema to Germany’s organized fan scene.
