Floridsdorfer, an Austrian club playing in the second tier of the Austrian league allowed themselves to be beaten 9 goals to zero away to Ried, the league table toppers. The embarrassing victory which was the last game of the season was enough to end Ried a promotion to the Austrian first-tier league on goals difference.
The incredible match which took place on Friday, 31 July 2020, has left Floridsdorfer under serious mainstream and social media attack especially from the fans of the second-placed Klagenfurt.
Prior to the match, Ried and Klagenfurt were on the same 61 points but Ried was topping with just a goal difference. They were having 25 goals difference as against Klagenfurt’s 24 goals difference.
Hence, it was apparent that it was beyond just winning the last game of the Austrian second-tier league season but winning it with as many goals as possible in order to win the league and also gain promotion to the apex league.
Klagenfurt hosted 6th placed Wacker and they were able to defeat them 6-1. While Ried hosted 14th placed Floridsdorfer and they beat them 9 – 0 which was enough to gain promotion to the apex league via goals difference.
The season finished with Ried having 64 points and 34 goals difference while Klagenfurt remained second with 64 points and 29 goals difference. Unfortunately for them, the rule says only the first-placed team will gain promotion to the Austrian first-tier league.
But people who follow the league have been wondering how Floridsdorfer ended up conceding 9 goals without scoring any goal in such an important match. The scoreline is unbelievable based on their previous meetings. Though Ried has always had an upper hand over Floridsdorfer, the scoreline has never been so bad.
Here are the scorelines between the Austrian clubs in their last 5 meetings in the Austrian league
1 – 2 – Nov 8 2019 (Ried won)
3 – 0 – Apr 12 2019 (Ried won)
1 – 0 – Sep 14 2018 (Floridsdorfer won)
2 – 4 – Apr 23 2018 (Ried won)
1 – 1 – Feb 23, 2018 (Draw)
The Austrian club said there was no fraud
Based on the outcome of the match, the coach of the second-placed team, Klagenfurt, Robert Micheu, suspects that there was a foul play somehow. He alleged that Floridsdorfer football club allowed most of their players to go on holiday prior to the match.
However, Floridsdorfer issued a statement on Saturday to insist that there was no foul play in how the game ended and apologized for the outrageous scoreline.
The Austrian club statement read: “Yesterday’s defeat at SV Ried still causes us headaches and consternation. We are aware that we disappointed many people with yesterday’s performance. We would like to apologize on behalf of the entire Floridsdorfer Sports Club for the desolate and unprofessional performance of our team.”
“We vehemently defend ourselves against various accusations that are circulating. In the coming days and weeks, we will intensively analyze and process yesterday’s events.”
