**Key Takeaways:**
– Three Rapid Vienna footballers were excluded from national team selection due to involvement in homophobic chants.
– The players involved were Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grüll, and Niklas Hedl.
– Austria’s national team manager, Ralf Rangnick, emphasized the importance of addressing and understanding the impact of public discrimination and insult.
– The players issued apologies and acknowledged their responsibility, committing to addressing the issue of discrimination internally within the club.
– The Austrian Football League took disciplinary action against the players and additional team members, including suspensions and disciplinary measures for club officials.
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Following a recent incident involving homophobic chants during post-match celebrations, three players from Rapid Vienna—Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grüll, and Niklas Hedl—were not considered for selection in the national team. This decision came to light after footage of their participation in the derogatory chants alongside some fans surfaced online.
The event occurred after Rapid Vienna’s victory over their rivals, Austria Vienna, on February 25. Austria’s national team manager, Ralf Rangnick, made the decision to exclude the trio from upcoming games against Slovakia and Turkey after reviewing the video evidence with his coaching staff. Rangnick highlighted the need for the players to deeply reflect on the significance of their actions, stressing that such public insults and discrimination would not be tolerated within his team.
Rangnick, who has previously managed Manchester United on an interim basis, stated that the exclusion of the players was not definitive. However, their return to the national team would depend on their demonstration of having learned from this incident. He criticized the players for offering apologies that seemed more about the repercussions of their actions rather than a genuine understanding and change in behavior.
In response to the backlash, Rapid Vienna’s captain, Burgstaller, publicly apologized for the “absolute misconduct,” acknowledging full responsibility for the incident. Both he and Grüll expressed their regret and distanced themselves from any form of discrimination and homophobia, committing to addressing the issue within the club and team.
Following the incident, the club issued a statement apologizing for the inappropriate and insulting statements made during the celebrations. The Austrian Football League subsequently suspended Burgstaller, Grüll, Hedl, and teammates Thorsten Schick and Maximilian Hofmann. Additionally, the league disciplined Rapid Vienna’s managing director, Steffen Hofmann, and assistant coach, Stefan Kulovits, underscoring the broader implications and responsibilities of such actions within the sport.