Dresden face German Cup ban after rioting

Dynamo Dresden are set to be banned from next season's German Cup following last week's rioting by their fans in Dortmund, the German Football Federation (DFB) announced on Wednesday. The DFB's disciplinary committee has recommended banning the second division club from the 2012-13 cup, but the federation's sports court must decide whether to uphold the decision. The DFB launched an investigation after violence marred Dresden's 2-0 televised defeat in the second round match on October 25 at German champions Borussia Dortmund, which saw 15 fans arrested and two police officers injured. "What it boils down to is that Dynamo Dresden will be banned from the cup," said DFB president Theo Zwanziger. "The clubs are responsible for their fans. Dynamo must ensure that in the future, violence like this will not occur. "It is unacceptable that families wikth children and grandchildren in and around football stadiums are confronted with hooded, violent perpetrators." Dynamo's director, Volker Oppitz, said news of the ban had shocked the club, who self-imposed a sanction on fans travelling for their second division match at Hamburg-based St Pauli on November 27. "That has surprised us, we weren't expecting that," he told SID, an AFP subsidiary. "We find the punishment draconian and absolutely unnecessary." A potential ban would cost Dynamo more than a million euros ($1.37m) in lost revenue. "This season, we counted on roughly 1.5 million euros from the cup," said Oppitz. Dortmund are also set to be fined around 10,000 euros after their security staff failed to stop Dresden fans bringing fireworks into the hosts' Signal Iduna Park stadium. Both Dortmund and Dresden have the chance to appeal to the court before any final decision is made. The disciplinary committee has recommended tough sanctions against Dresden, as previous incidents have seen the club fined several times in recent seasons. The DFB are also proposing the founding of a task force, composed of representatives from government, the judiciary service, police, fans and the football federation, to look into the issue of violence in the sport.