13 March 2024 , 09:08
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Former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick has left out three Rapid Vienna players from his Austria squad for the March international break after they were involved in a homophobic chanting incident.
The trio, Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grull and Niklas Hedl, were among those filmed singing homophobic chants after Rapid's 3-0 win over city rivals Austria Vienna on 26 February. Videos of the chanting were posted on social media and in one clip, Grull can be seen alongside Burgstaller singing “Wir sind keine oaschwoamen Veilchen!”, which translates as: “We are not little a**-loving violets”.
After those clips were posted, Rapid, Burgstaller and Grull also posted apologies for the incident. But that has not been enough for Rangnick, who has insisted they must "seriously address" the issue as he announced they would not be included in his latest squad.
"This is something that I will not tolerate in a team where I am a coach, whether in a club or here with the national team. Everything we stand for with the national team is at the other end of the scale, and I told the boys that on the phone," he said.
“I expect them to take this issue seriously and understand what it means for people when they are publicly insulted or discriminated against in such a way.”
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While they apologised, Rangnick insisted an apology as "lip service" is "not an excuse", though he did leave the door open for their return for this summer's Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Rangnick added: "Everything else depends on the boys showing what they really think and where they stand in terms of attitude. You can say a lot, what matters is how the behavior looks like."
The trio were last called up in October, but have been left at home as Austria prepare for friendlies against Slovakia and Turkey at the end of the month. Rangnick has been Austria boss since April 2022, taking up the role after he left his post as United's interim post, before leading them to qualification for the Euros.
He has now come down hard on the three Rapid stars for their actions last month, which has led to Rapid being deducted two points by the Austrian Bundesliga. Grull did issue an apology after the videos were posted on social media, with the three players having also been ordered to attend three one-hour workshops in local schools as part of their punishment.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to personally apologize to everyone for the words said after the Vienna derby. As players, we have a certain role model function and we certainly didn't live up to that in this situation," Grull wrote.
"For this I can only sincerely apologize and assure you that we will bear the full consequences. Like my fellow players, I also clearly distance myself from any kind of exclusion; homophobia must have no place in our society. Finally all that remains to say is: SORRY!"
Rapid also issued an apology, with managing director Steffen Hofmann personally apologising to Austria Vienna in phone calls with their sporting director Manuel Ortlechner and president Kurt Gollowitzer. And club captain Burgstaller admitted he had made a major error of judgement.
He said: “Unfortunately, we cannot undo this mistake. In this way, we would also like to clearly distance ourselves from any discrimination and homophobia and apologize to anyone who we have directly or indirectly offended through our behavior. 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 game.”
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