Press release
Lemons on everyone's lips – the #LemonChallengeMECFS gets support from professional football
Hamburg, Bremen 13 March 2025
On 15 March, Werder Bremen will be running a match day campaign for the severe and often invisible disease ME/CFS.For the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, professional players and fans will be biting into a lemon to demand more attention and research.
The topic of ME/CFS is moving into football stadiums. After many celebrities and politicians, such as Robert Habeck, Heidi Reichinnek, Ricarda Lang and Johannes Rauch (Austrian Minister of Health), have bitten the lemon in favour of more attention and more research into ME/CFS, the topic is now ending up in football stadiums. With the ‘Empty Stands’ initiative, football fans and players are fuelling the #LemonChallengeMECFS by pointing out the empty seats of patients suffering from the disease.
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 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.
Football fans with ME/CFS launch the ‘Empty Stands’ initiative
With the claim ‘Missing in the stands - lost to ME/CFS’, fans suffering from ME/CFS founded the ‘Empty Stands’ initiative. They want to go back to the stadium and cheer on their teams. Football clubs and fans are called upon to support the initiative with actions and donations for education and research on ME/CFS. In addition to Werder Bremen, other clubs have pledged their support.
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.’
Research funding for ME/CFS
More than 40 million patients worldwide suffer from this severe, often invisible disease. In Germany, it is assumed that over 620,000 people are affected. The bite into the lemon is symbolic of the sensory overload that patients experience – one of the many 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, founder and CEO of the 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. Thanks 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.
The ME/CFS Research Foundation is documenting the campaign on its website, providing instructions and showing selected ‘best of’ videos:
https://mecfs-research.org/lemonchallengemecfs-fussball/
Press contact
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Further information on ME/CFS, the foundation and current media coverage can be found in the press section of our website: https://mecfs-research.org/press/
Donation info: https://mecfs-research.org/spenden/
Donation account: DE35 2004 0000 0628 5316 00 (Commerzbank)
ME/CFS Research Foundation is a non-profit limited liability company and fulfils the statutory requirements according to §§ 51, 59, 60 and 61 AO (German tax laws). It may issue donation receipts within the meaning of Section 10b of the German Income Tax Act.
About ME/CFS Research Foundation
The non-profit ME/CFS Research Foundation, based in Hamburg, funds and supports biomedical research into ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) and Long COVID. The aim is to develop diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to improve the current inadequate standard of care. The foundation works closely with researchers and ME/CFS patient organisations.
Due to a lack of research to date, there is still no effective treatment for these common and serious multisystemic diseases. The foundation funds research projects, connects researchers, ensures transparency regarding research progress, and provides facts and resources to raise awareness.
About Empty Stands
Empty Stands are football fans with ME/CFS from over 40 clubs. They can only live their fan life to a very limited extent. The initiative is committed to providing more information and research into the disease as an online self-help group.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emptystands.me/
About ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) and long COVID:
ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is a chronic, severe multisystemic condition characterised by a wide range of disorders, primarily affecting the nervous and immune systems. ME/CFS is predominantly post-infectious in origin, including as a consequence of COVID-19. It is the most severe form of Long COVID. People with ME/CFS experience pronounced physical and cognitive symptoms, a very low quality of life and often a high degree of disability. Between 60 and 75 per cent of all sufferers are unable to work, and many are confined to their homes or beds. The key symptom is severe exercise intolerance with a worsening of symptoms following everyday activities (post-exertional malaise, or PEM for short). Due to the current lack of biomarkers, diagnosing ME/CFS is only possible through a detailed medical history and multidisciplinary diagnostic process to rule out other conditions. Many doctors lack the necessary expertise. It often takes years for those affected to receive a diagnosis. To date, there is no effective treatment. Adults with ME/CFS currently have little prospect of recovery and reintegration into working life. The prognosis is better for children and young people, yet long-term absences from school are the norm. For most sufferers, participation in normal life—including work, education, friends, sport, hobbies, etc.—is not possible.
In Deutschland lag die Zahl der Menschen, die mit ME/CFS leben, im Jahr 2025 bei mehr als 657.000. Ein Teil der durch COVID-19 an Long COVID bzw. Post-COVID-Syndrom erkrankten Personen erfüllt die Diagnosekriterien für ME/CFS. Bereits vor der COVID-19-Pandemie lebten etwa 400.000 Menschen in Deutschland mit ME/CFS. Weltweit liegt die Zahl der Betroffenen bei weit über 40 Millionen. Die medizinische Versorgungslage der Erkrankten ist ungenügend. Oft kommt es zu Fehldiagnosen und daraus resultierenden Folgeschäden.
Die hohe Zahl der Betroffenen ist für alle Bereiche der Versorgung sowie auch ökonomisch, durch den krankheitsbedingten Ausfall von Ausbildungszeit und Arbeitskraft, ein zunehmend kritischer Faktor.
All the figures and sources mentioned can be found on our website: https://mecfs-research.org/was-ist-me-cfs