The Bundesliga’s plans to allow outside investors have fueled fan protests in German football. On Friday, an ingenious trick was seen in Cologne.
The German Bundesliga football match between FC Köln and Werder Bremen was interrupted on Friday due to a special reason. Fans threw tennis balls and remote-controlled toy cars onto the field.
The match was stopped at the beginning of the second period for ten minutes. Players kicked tennis balls off the court, but chasing remote-controlled cars was more difficult. According to ESPN the fans did flips and other tricks with the cars.
The abduction of the fans was part of a series of protests against Bundesliga’s intentions to sell stakes in the series to private investors in the future. German football clubs have the so-called 50+1 rule, which guarantees the majority of the decision-making power to the club itself and its members, i.e. supporters. An individual investor cannot own more than 49 percent of the shares of an individual club.
The Bundesliga’s investor plans are seen by supporters as a threat to the country’s football and power structure. The top two series levels the club bosses voted at the league meeting in December that the investment plans will be taken forward. The plan got just the required two-thirds of the votes in a vote of 36 clubs.
Along with the toy cars, a banner was displayed in the stands with Luli “we don’t let ourselves be controlled.†. The message of the takeover was clear: the supporters do not want outside investors to direct the league’s operations.
Recently, there have been several protests around Germany. Among other things, chocolate coins and apples have been thrown onto the field. Last week, the match between HSV and Hannover was interrupted when fans attached themselves to the goal posts with bicycle locks.
In Friday’s match itself, Werder Bremen won after the protests Justin Njinmahin with a score of 1–0. With the win, Bremen rose to seventh place. Köln’s position as a qualifier in the sixteenth place is tough. The difference over the line with Union Berlin, who played less matches, is five points.
At the top of the series Lukas Hradecky represented by Leverkusen will face Heidenhem on Saturday. Bayern München, who lost the top match to Leverkusen last weekend and bowed to Lazio in the Champions League this week, will play as a guest of Bochum on Sunday.
Still unbeaten, Leverkusen’s league lead is five points.