German FA investigate Baier for obscene gesture

BERLIN: Augsburg captain Daniel Baier could face a heavy German Football Association (DFB) fine after being investigated for making an obscene gesture during a televised Bundesliga match.

When Baier was tackled near the RB Leipzig bench late in Augsburg’s 1- 0 victory during Tuesday’s bad-tempered match, the 33-year-old spat in the direction of Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuettl.

The television camera caught Baier also making an obscene gesture.

The DFB confirmed on Wednesday they will investigate, referee Daniel Siebert not having seen the incident.

Baier twice tried to apologise, both after the final whistle on the pitch and again in the dressing room, but Hasenhuettl rejected the apology.

Immediately after the match, Augsburg’s skipper Baier saw no reason to say “sorry”.

“What should I apologise for?” he told Sky.

“My God, it’s a football match and emotions are involved.

“I made a gesture, what more can I say?”

However, Baier apologised in a statement posted on social media channel Instagram on Wednesday.

“Out of the emotion, I let myself be swept into making a gesture that I don’t know how I got to,” Baier wrote.

“I apologise to all those who interpreted it as offensive.

“I apologised to the team before training, because the senseless gesture pushed our great performance into the background.

“I hope that those at RB Leipzig will also think differently following last night, when I tried to apologise on the pitch and later in their dressing room to clean up the misunderstanding.”

On Wednesday, Hasenhuettl said he was “done” with the subject but tensions clearly remain.

“I told him after the game what I thought of it and I was not going to accept an apology in that moment,” said Hasenhuettl.

“With all the emotion, and I’ve seen more emotion in games where more has been going on, I have never seen something like that.

“I promise one thing: should one of our players pull a similar stunt, he will certainly hear something other than an accusation against the opposing coach,” he added, referring to Baier’s comment about the rejected apology.

There is a history of bad-blood between the pair after Hasenhuettl previously commented on Baier’s behaviour.

Augsburg are having a stellar start to the season with 10 points from their first five league games to go third in Germany’s top flight.

In contrast, Champions League side Leipzig are struggling to recapture last season’s form, which saw them finish second to reigning champions Bayern Munich.

They are eighth having lost twice in the league so far this season after starting the 2016-2017 campaign with a record 13-game unbeaten run on their Bundesliga debut. — AFP