A few days after blue Sport made the collective punishment training sessions for FCZ juniors public, they have been discontinued. From now on, the young players will no longer have to sprint when they fail.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Because FC Zurich was dissatisfied with the results of its young players, the club has recently turned to punitive training.
- The higher the failure, the more they had to run. "We want to strengthen the winning mentality and resilience of the young players as part of temporary additional training sessions," FCZ explained in a written statement.
- A few days after blue Sport reported on these unusual methods, the club has now reacted and abolished the penalty runs with immediate effect.
Last week, blue Sport reported that FC Zurich was resorting to unusual methods with its own young players. Because they were dissatisfied with the results, penalty training sessions were ordered to give the young players a boost.
In the event of defeats with a one-goal difference, the talented FCZ academy players had to complete five 100-meter sprints immediately after the final whistle. More if the difference was two goals. And if the difference was three goals or more, all the players, including the coach, even had to trot to the Heerenschürli campus the following morning and complete their runs there. "Collective punishment training sessions are a no-go, especially in the youth section," says long-time educationalist Andy Benz in an interview with blue Sport and clarifies: "They are disproportionate and counterproductive."
The report is making waves in the scene. Ex-FCZ head of youth development Heinz Russheim and ex-talent manager Ivano Sicuro are not holding back with their criticism either. Russheim writes on LinkedIn, for example: "The fact is that active coaches and players do not identify these temporary additional training sessions as such in any way, but rather see them as a form of bullying by weak personalities."
Rethinking at FCZ
When asked by blue Sport a few days ago, FCZ explained in a written statement: "It is true that we want to strengthen the winning mentality and resilience of the young players as part of temporary additional training sessions." And: "It is important to know that there are always rewards in return for good performances, such as team dinners, days off or regeneration weeks."
Now, just a few days after the collective punitive training sessions for FCZ youngsters became public, they have been discontinued. blue Sport learned that the players were not called up for the usual punitive training session on Sunday morning at the campus despite the 4:1 defeat at home to Thun on Saturday. To everyone's surprise.
blue Sport asks the FCZ managers: Have the penalty training sessions been canceled with immediate effect? Yes, the club says. This was the plan, they say, as they had said it would be a temporary measure.
