Bundesliga off to rocky start

– Niko Kovac’s Bayern Munich launch their 2019/20 season as German Cup winners this weekend, but the traditional season curtain-raiser will be overshadowed this year by a string of scandals rocking football in Germany.

While coaching prodigies Julian Nagelsmann (above) and David Wagner make their dugout debuts for RB Leipzig and Schalke respectively, clubs such as Chemnitzer and Hamburg are reeling from scandals involving neo-Nazis and alleged identity fraud.

Bayern have been fairly quiet in the transfer market, only bringing in defender Luis Hernandez from Atletico Madrid in a big-money move and the lack of more high-profile new signings prompted criticism from star striker Robert Lewandowski.

The club was chasing Manchester City winger Leroy Sane but he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Liverpool in last Sunday’s FA Community Shield at Wembley.

Ahead of Bayern’s trip to fourth-tier side Energie Cottbus on Monday, the heat is already on perennially under-fire coach Kovac.

Nagelsmann’s RB Leipzig travel to Osnabrueck tomorrow after Wagner’s Schalke visit Drochtersen/Assel on Saturday.

Former Huddersfield Town boss Wagner is hoping to breathe new life into crisis-stricken Schalke, but his preparations have been overshadowed by a racism scandal involving club chairman Clemens Toennies.

Toennies, 63, stepped down for three months on Tuesday following widespread outrage over comments he made about Africa during a speech last week.

Schalke are not the only club to have been hit by a racism scandal. On Monday, third-tier Chemnitzer sacked captain Daniel Frahn over his alleged association with far-right fan groups.

Frahn’s dismissal was the latest episode in a long-running controversy over neo-Nazis in the Chemnitzer fanbase. Police fear that far-right fans may stage protests during tomorrow’s cup clash with Hamburg.

Second-division Hamburg are themselves engulfed in a media scandal after doubts were raised over the identity of their Gambian midfielder Bakery Jatta.

Bild newspaper claimed Jatta, who reportedly came to Germany as a refugee in 2015, entered the country under a false identity, changing his name and claiming to be two-and-a-half years younger than he really was so he could register as a minor. – AFP