Sports
Bayern, Hoffenheim players spend over 10 minutes just passing ball to protest fans’ offensive banner
The Bayern Munich players and manager were furious with their own fans after they unveiled a banner directing abuse at the Hoffenheim owner, as their 6-0 Bundesliga victory ended in total farce.
The German giants were thrashing Hoffenheim away from home before the match was suspended for 20 minutes when travelling fans unveiled a message calling the hosts’ billionaire owner Dietmar Hopp a ‘son of a b****’.
The referee stopped the game and the TV cameras cut to Hopp who appeared visibly upset by the banners.
The Bayern players went over to their fans pleading for the banner to be taken down, while manager Hansi Flick also ran over from the dugout to try and resolve the situation.
Both sets of players were taken off the pitch in the 77th minute and the game was suspended while they tried to get the banners removed.
Club legend Oliver Kahn was also seen trying to remonstrate with the supporters but they appeared to refuse to take them down.
When the players returned, they decided to simply play the clock down, passing to each other and doing keepy-uppies to ensure Bayern got their victory rather than the match being abandoned.
Bayern Munich’s supporters are unhappy with the way Hopp has financed Hoffenheim and pumped money into the club to take them from the fifth tier of German football to the Bundesliga in a short space of time.
Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stood by Hopp’s side and led an ovation at the final whistle, and later expressed his disgust for the behaviour of his fans.
“I am deeply ashamed for the behaviour of these people. That is inexcusable. It is the ugly face of football,” Rummenigge told reporters.
“I have apologised to Dietmar Hopp. We have filmed everything and these people will be held accountable. The way these people behaved today they have absolutely no place in a football stadium.”
“It was a big sign the way the players did it in the end. They had discussed it with the referee. There is a process provided by the football association and I think it is good.”
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