BAFF Congress 2007

More infos (German only) from the BAFF website.

Here some words by Jim on the meeting:

My first time as a BAFFer, found it very interesting and informative, around 80 fans from all across Germany talking about a range of topics affecting German football, I sat in on the racism seminar and nationalism (in the wake of the World Cup) one.

Leipzig, or more specifically Connewitz where I stayed was cool, some great pubs, good people, and the most unlikely rock star of them all, 'Butter Maker' :)

Erm, I went back on the beer for the weekend, mainly cos Staropramen was €1,60 a bottle and Pilsner Urquell €1,50, soo-poib.

Also had a wee dance for the first time in about a year, 'Electric Island', lots of electro, house and techno, till 5.30am, magic. Got about 6 hours' sleep all weekend.

I was there on behalf of TeBe but also there to represent AFFI Cup.

There were about 80 people of different ages and from various fan groups such as Babelsberg, TeBe, St Pauli, Bayern, 1860 among others. As well as just generally meeting up with people and hearing what was going on with the different fan groups from across the country I took part in two seminars/ workshops. I chose the subjects of women and football and nationalism after the World Cup.

The first talk was about women and football and was an introduction to the F_in network from Frankfurt . There were about 10 participants, many of them women fans from various teams and offered a chance to talk about how women feel about the roles they have at football and the roles that are denied them or made very difficult for them to achieve. We all received a free copy of the book "gender kicks" and there are a few interesting articles in there that we can hopefully distribute for AFFI Cup as well as organising a similar workshop with the groups involved.

The second workshop was about the rise of nationalism in Germany during and after the World Cup and the repurcussions that this could have for football fans. We talked about the changes in German nationalism and the view of Germany that Germans now have and its specific relationship towards football fans. A paper with our conclusions will be ready soon and will be made available.

The fans Babelsberg also had the chance to introduce other fans to their fans watching the police campaign.

All in all a very good fun and productive weekend for AFFI Cup but the BAFF concept and idea seems to be in a crucial phase at the moment in deciding its direction after the World Cup and significant changes within the German FA. Z.Toni will hopeful give his more experienced view within the next few days on this and other subjects.

Thanks to all those in Leipzig who made us feel welcome over the weekend.