Written by Seidl and Veronika Franz, Rimini and Sparta were originally conceived and shot as one film titled Wicked Games (German: Böse Spiele), and were split into two during the post-production.

[3] A ten-year-old boy was cast as a character who, in one scene, is told to drink alcohol and caressed by two drunk men, the filming of which led him to cry and vomit.

Several workers told Der Spiegel that they were aware that the boy had an abusive alcoholic father, and one claimed that Seidl cast him in the role specifically because of his background.

[5] FC Gloria issued a statement denying "in the strongest possible terms" that its board members approached Der Spiegel, adding that the organisation "does not see it as its task to act against individuals, but is committed to the structural improvement of gender equality in the Austrian film industry".

Another crew member claimed that a car driven by Friedrich with seven children hit a post and was damaged during filming, without stunt performers or safety precautions, though no one was injured.

[8] On 23 July 2019, Satu Mare police received a tip that "various acts of violence" had been inflicted on children during the production of a film in Baba Novac.

[11] The Austrian Film Institute, which funded the diptych with €1.3 million, launched an investigation and demanded documents such as contracts and consent forms from Seidl's company.

[12][13] On 7 December 2022, the Austrian Film Institute announced that it found no violation of the subsidy contract by Seidl's company and therefore would not demand the return of the funds.

[11] In response to the Spiegel article, Seidl issued a statement that said, "incorrect descriptions, rumors and events on the set of Sparta taken out of context have been woven into a distorted picture that in no way corresponds to the facts ...

Seidl said that "[t]he young actors were under constant supervision" and that he "explained all the essential elements of the film to the parents in numerous one-on-one conversations (with an interpreter) prior to shooting", including "the ambivalence of the character of Ewald" and "his relationship to children".

"[9] Seidl said he understands that an image of a scene in which an abusive stepfather forces liquor on a boy, which was shot with a minimal crew, gave some others on set the impression of wrongdoing and was the ultimate cause of the controversy.

Seidl said he relied on a Romanian service provider and "assumed that all guidelines and requirements were fully complied with", but the crew "took care of the children's well-being throughout" and "never exceeded the shooting times".

Seidl said the showing of Sparta to the parents of child actors was "a very gratifying experience because everyone was able to confirm that there was nothing in the film that they might have feared after all the newspaper reports".

Assistant director and production manager Klaus Pridnig and cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler said Seidl builds trust and works respectfully with his actors, and expressed scepticism towards the allegations.

[29] Describing Seidl's directing method, cinematographer Serafin Spitzer, who replaced Thaler for the summer shoot, told Profil that Seidl shoots with a small crew, allowing only the essential members on set, in order to achieve as much concentration and camera coverage as possible, and that he prefers to isolate sections of his crew rather than make them collaborate and share information with each other.

Spitzer added that it was difficult for him "to determine today which allegations are actually true" because "the fact no team member knew the entire scenic content and no one was allowed to talk about it even after the camera was turned off inevitably led to different and severely limited perceptions".

[29] On 3 October 2022, the Austrian Directors Guild, of which Seidl and Franz are members,[30] issued a statement criticising "hasty and unwarranted public reactions" and calling on media and institutions for "a thorough and unbiased examination of the facts".

[31] A German company withdrew from co-producing Moon [de], a film directed by Kurdwin Ayub and produced by Seidl, in light of the allegations.

[35] A festival representative said, "Sparta had been scheduled to premiere in TIFF's Contemporary World Cinema section, but given these allegations, we will no longer present the film.

[37][38] Ahead of the festival, Rebordinos said, "We cannot allow the presumption of guilt to replace that of innocence and intervene in the decision whether or not to program a film", adding that a "true moralist epidemic" was threatening freedom of expression.

[43][44][45][46] A message from Seidl was read at the beginning of the first public screening, in which he said, "I am in Romania at the moment where I have shown the film to the parents and children who are in the movie.

Festival director Marek Hovorka said, "We don't want to be hypocritical, but to create an opportunity to watch the film and continue the discussion about the ethical responsibility of filmmakers.

[64] Mike Thomas of Cinema Scope wrote that, while Seidl and Friedrich "succeed in rendering Ewald a classical tragic hero, thus creating an intense dialectical viewing experience", the film's "sympathy-for-the-devil conceit distracts from an otherwise compelling exploration of themes that stretches across Sparta and Rimini", namely "critiques of masculinity and neo-colonialism".