Press release
Premier League club Werder Bremen supports the #LemonChallengeMECFS
Bremen, Hamburg, 17 March 2025
On the day of the match at Werder Bremen, players and numerous fans bit into lemons on Saturday. With the #LemonChallengeMECFS, they called for more attention to be paid to the serious and often invisible disease ME/CFS, which also affects many football fans.
On Saturday, Werder Bremen and its fans supported the #LemonChallengeMECFS on match day against Borussia Mönchengladbach, calling for more attention and research for ME/CFS patients. The players Leonardo Bittencourt, Larissa Mühlhaus, Oliver Hüsing, stadium announcer Arndt Zeigler, as well as numerous fans in front of and inside the sold-out Weser Stadium were there. The match day event was the first ME/CFS awareness event with the official participation of a Bundesliga club.
Stadium visitors were motivated and informed with information stands, posters, flyers and a video in the stadium. Stadium announcer Arndt Zeigler interviewed Joerg Heydecke (founder of the foundation) live in the stadium before the game. Several hundred fans did the #LemonChallengeMECFS on their way to the stadium. The campaign was initiated and supported by the ‘Empty Stands’ (Instagram profile), an initiative of football fans from many clubs who are patients with ME/CFS, and the ME/CFS Research Foundation.
The sour faces can be seen on all social media channels and are growing every day. With the #LemonChallengeMECFS, the ME/CFS Research Foundation has been generating public attention, raising awareness and collecting donations for ME/CFS research since the end of last year. Since its launch in December, the #LemonChallengeMECFS has generated over 70,000 euros in donations. Many celebrities from the worlds of culture, sport and politics have shown their support with a short video. Among them are Robert Habeck, Heidi Reichinnek, Ricarda Lang, Julia Klöckner and Johannes Rauch (Austrian Minister of Health). 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/
Verwendung des Bildmaterials (Teil 1 und Teil 2) für redaktionelle Zwecke honorarfrei. Alle Rechte: ME/CFS Research Foundation und Empty Stands.
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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 supports and promotes biomedical research into the disease spectrum of ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Due to insufficient research, there is still no causal therapy for this common, severe and complex multisystemic disease. The foundation finances research projects, connects researchers and provides information about research. In doing so, the foundation cooperates with many ME/CFS patient organisations that have long been working to improve the situation.
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 multisystem disease with a wide range of disorders, particularly of the nervous and immune systems. ME/CFS is predominantly post-infectious, including as a result of COVID-19. It is the most severe form of long COVID. ME/CFS sufferers have pronounced physical and cognitive symptoms, a very low quality of life and often a high degree of disability. 60 to 75 per cent of all patients are unable to work, many of them are housebound or bedridden. The leading symptom is severe exertional intolerance with worsening of symptoms after everyday activities (PEM = post-exertional malaise). Due to the lack of a biomarker, ME/CFS can only be diagnosed with extensive anamnesis and cross-disciplinary exclusion diagnostics. Many doctors lack the necessary knowledge for this. It often takes years for patients to receive a diagnosis. To date, there is no causal therapy. Adults with ME/CFS currently have little prospect of recovery and reintegration into working life. The prognosis for children and adolescents is better, but long-term absences from school are the norm. For most patients, participation in normal life with a job, education, friends, sports, hobbies, etc. is not possible.
There are over 40 million patients with ME/CFS worldwide. In Germany, it is assumed that over 620,000 people are affected. Some of those affected by long COVID also develop ME/CFS. The medical and psychosocial care situation for patients is insufficient. Misdiagnoses often occur, resulting in consequential damage. Economic factors are also critical, as workers are absent from work due to illness and training programmes are not started or completed.
All the figures and sources mentioned can be found on our website: https://mecfs-research.org/was-ist-me-cfs/
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