The #LemonChallengeMECFS gets support from professional football

The #LemonChallengeMECFS is now coming to football stadiums. Many celebrities and politicians have already bitten into a lemon on social media to raise awareness and call for more research into ME/CFS, including Robert Habeck, Heidi Reichinnek, Ricarda Lang and Johannes Rauch (Austrian Minister of Health). Together with the ‘Empty Stands’ initiative, football fans and players are now fuelling the #LemonChallengeMECFS and drawing attention to the empty seats of sick fans in stadiums.

The sour faces can be seen on all social media channels and are growing every day. With the #LemonChallengeMECFS, the ME/CFS Research Foundation is generating public attention, raising awareness and collecting donations for ME/CFS research. Since its launch in December, the #LemonChallengeMECFS has already generated over 65,000 euros in donations. Many celebrities from the worlds of culture, politics and sport have shown their support with a short video. The #LemonChallengeMECFS has been going viral on Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts and TikTok since the end of last year.

Update: On Saturday 15 March 2025, Bundesliga club Werder Bremen organised an ME/CFS matchday event for the #LemonChallengeMECFS. Full details in our press release, as of March 17, 2025.

Football fans with ME/CFS launch the ‘Empty Stands’ initiative and get the clubs involved

With the claim ‘Missing in the curve - lost to ME/CFS’, patients with ME/CFS founded the ‘Empty Stands’ initiative (Instagram profile). They want to go back to the stadium and cheer on their teams. Together with Empty Stands, we call on football clubs and fans to support ME/CFS education and research with action and donations.

Am 15. März wird z. B. Werder Bremen eine Spieltagsaktion für die schwere, oft unsichtbare Krankheit ME/CFS durchführen (Kommentar in der Werder Bremen Pressekonferenz, externer Link). Zum Bundesliga-Spiel gegen Borussia Mönchengladbach beißen Profi-Spieler*innen und Fans in die Zitrone, um mehr Aufmerksamkeit und Forschung zu fordern. ME/CFS Research Foundation und Empty Stands werden vor Ort informieren und zur #LemonChallengeMECFS auffordern. Im Stadion werden Fans mit Plakaten, Flyern, über eine Ankündigung durch den Stadionsprecher und das Stadion-Video über ME/CFS und die #LemonChallengeMECFS informiert.

Some clubs (e.g. 1. FC Kaiserslautern, SV Meppen, VfB Oldenburg) have already carried out initial actions. Further clubs are preparing match day actions. All information can be found on our #LemonChallengeMECFS Fussball-Seite.

Fabian Fritz is one of the co-founders of Empty Stands. This is what he says about his life with ME/CFS:  ‘I just check the score on the app. That's all I can physically manage. Unfortunately, activities lasting more than 30 minutes are already too much. When I'm having a good day, I listen to the radio of our active fan scene. But I've only managed that once in the last six months. After that, I had to lie in the dark for two days.’.”

More research funding for ME/CFS

More than 40 million people worldwide suffer from the severe, often invisible disease ME/CFS. In Germany, it is assumed that over 620,000 people are affected. The bite into the lemon is symbolic of the sensory overload of patients - one of the numerous symptoms of this severe multisystem illness. So far, little research has been done on ME/CFS and there is no causal therapy. The donations from the #LemonChallengeMECFS will go entirely towards research funding.

Joerg Heydecke (ME/CFS Research Foundation) comments: ‘We are thrilled and encouraged by the great success of the #LemonChallengeMECFS. We are getting a lot of positive feedback from patients and their families, but also increasingly from celebrities and the general public. With this challenge, we want to draw attention to the medical and social catastrophe of this common but so far under-researched disease. It is incredibly helpful that even football clubs are now taking part in this important campaign. Thank you to everyone who supports the #LemonChallengeMECFS and our work with their actions and donations!“

How to do the #LemonChallengeMECFS

Nominees are asked to (symbolically) bite into a lemon and to document their reaction to the extreme irritation of the sense of taste on video. Three more people will be nominated for #LemonChallengeMECFS. The campaign is accompanied by an appeal for donations in favour of ME/CFS research.

We are documenting the campaign on our website, providing instructions, showing selected ‘best of’ videos and the current donation status:

---

How can you support the work of the ME/CFS Research Foundation?

There is still a long way to go before diagnosis, care and treatment of ME/CFS patients will one day become a medical and social standard. We at the ME/CFS Research Foundation are focussing on biomedical research, which we see as the key element in solving these problems (more on this in our research funding strategy and in our half-year report (summer 2024), which summarises our activities). To do this, we need extensive support from private donors – those affected, relatives, families, friends, associations, schools, networks, companies, initiatives, event organisers and all supporters. And if you are not able to provide direct support, you can share our story and motivate others to help. Because only together can such a feat be achieved.

We fully translate donations and other support into scientifically excellent research, networking and ultimately visible successes, i.e. better ME/CFS diagnostics and therapies. We are happy to work together with other organisations and initiatives - please contact us!

And please extend our reach and follow us on social media (external links below). THANK YOU!