Held on Saturday, August 17, the event Getreu had organized was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Lõuna-Läänemaa Football Club (LLJK), of which he is the owner.

Getreu has been coaching kids for decades, and this February was awarded a state decoration – the Order of the White Star, 5th Class – by President Alar Karis for his work. His coaching methods and approach toward children has garnered media praise.

"Since our club is celebrating its anniversary, I organized the veterans' soccer match a bit more seriously this time," Getreu told ERR, explaining that he invited a team of Lääneranna municipal officials, government and council members to play against them.

"To make it into an even bigger event, I invited the band Propeller to play, which has its own ties to soccer dating back a game between Estonian Radio and Estonian Television at Kadriorg Stadium in 1980," he continued, referring to youth riots that erupted in Tallinn after Soviet authorities clamped down on the band's performance at the match. "It was a really awesome performance. And much to my surprise – which I hadn't known anything about – locals Laur Oberschneider and Peeter Hermik jumped onstage for the band's last song, 'Helinälg,' and performed it with lyrics by Hermik that included the names of [municipal] council members."

The lyrics, parodying the original "Karuks sat in the prison tower..." referred to local officials by name.

The soccer coach emphasized that he had been totally unaware of Oberschneider and Hermik's plan to join the band onstage.

"But then it was made clear to me as event organizer that ignorance does not absolve you of responsibility," Getreu said, describing what followed at Lääneranna Sports School, where he worked. "'Either you write a resignation letter yourself or there will be an extraordinary termination of contract.' And that was it."

He said that he submitted a resignation letter in order to spare his health.

"That is the true and fair answer, even though I also know that the reasons [I was forced to resign] may actually lie elsewhere – the whole small schools issue," the longtime soccer coach highlighted. "For decades, I've gotten kids from all of the smaller schools in southern Lääne County. My philosophy is to mold kids with different personalities and from different schools into one team that, as a small rural club, then tries to compete against the big city clubs. And we've been succeeding at this for 30 years."

He said that a rural club must have its own identity and style – only then can they compete against city clubs. The closure of rural schools threatened to become an obstacle to this.

"And since the rural schools issue has been in the air for so long and [the schools] started being shut down, then I was of course wholeheartedly against it," Getreu affirmed. "I can't be in favor of my work being destroyed. I also spoke out quite a bit on the topic; I wrote articles, both for [local paper] Lääne Elu and my home club's website."

He is currently continuing to coach under the LLJK.

"Practices are still being held; I'm working for free," he said. "We can be outside in September and October." What will happen when they need to start using indoor facilities again, the coach doesn't exactly know yet.

Getreu also mentioned that he has gotten job offers from other Estonian clubs, as well as many supportive letters from parents.

Ex-boss: This was his third strike

Getreu's former employer and Lääneranna Sports School director Janar Sõber, a wrestling coach who was also satirized in the parody song performed at last month's event, told ERR that Getreu had been "on thin ice" for some time already.

"The last straw was indeed the Propeller incident – a charity event for kids that turned political and that Getreu expressed no regret or sadness about, but instead described in a statement as the best event ever and we should all be grateful," he said.

"Okay, I get that it would have been difficult for Getreu to intervene [in the satirists' performance], but to say 'Damn, that went kinda badly, that wasn't what I wanted' – he could have done that," Sõber continued. "But he didn't."

The sports school director also mentioned that there was a longer backstory leading up to Getreu losing his job, including complaints from some parents that were discussed at a roundtable at the municipal hall, and he fact that despite Sõber's demands, Getreu did not obtain the necessary coaching certification.

He noted that Getreu had received two warnings prior to the soccer event on August 17.

"Getreu knew he was on thin ice – he knew he didn't have the certification; he knew he had to meet that promise," Sõber said. "We've given him four years' time on this. He knew that several very influential parents are currently dissatisfied with him. In 2023, Getreu stood tall in an on-camera interview with Pärnu Postimees and said that if the school reform passed, he would hand in his resignation letter the very next day. The school reform passed, but that letter never came. Parents are asking, 'Well, is that how it's gonna be?'"

After last month's event, Sõber consulted with the parents of the kids being coached by Getreu. "There was major indignation," he recalled. "And that's what prompted this decision. This was the third strike."

One such parent, who has written in the local paper Lääne Elu that they had sent Sõber a letter stating that they found it inappropriate for such things to happen at an event organized by Getreu, was Armand Reinmaa – chair of Lääneranna Municipal Council.

Reinmaa was among those mentioned by name in the satirical bawdy song performed there, which was heard by his child, who was likewise in attendance.

Reinmaa told Lääne Elu that he holds Getreu as the event organizer responsible for what happened. "I understand if it's about expressing dissatisfaction with something involving the municipal administration, but it got personal," he told the paper. "I believe it crossed the line of good taste at a public event."

Both Sõber and Reinmaa are members of the ruling Lääneranna Electoral Alliance, but Sõber denies that Reinmaa's displeasure was the main reason for Getreu's resignation.

"I've been a member of the Lääneranna Electoral Alliance since before Armand [Reinmaa] even came on the scene, and I've been a member of the council for over eight years," he pointed out. "Now you're looking for a connection here."

The sports school director once again emphasized that the bigger issue was the coach's lack of certification.

"I'm a sports manager," he said. "Estonia has developed a certification system for coaches. If sports managers won't deal with this, then who will?"

Asked which clause of his employment contract Getreu violated to prompt his dismissal, Sõber replied that the fact that Getreu didn't know that the song in question would be performed didn't absolve him of his responsibility for it.

"If you've applied for a public event permit, then you're the responsible party," he explained. "You're mocking a colleague, mocking your employer, mocking the people who put bread on your table in front of your [kids'] parents."

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