Irate fans could provide more Bundesliga banner headlines

BERLIN: When Hoffenheim kick off at Schalke in the Bundesliga on Saturday many eyes will be on the fans behind the goals rather than the players on the field. Last week, away to Hoffenheim, Bayern fans unveiled a banner with 17 minutes to go which halted the match.

When the players returned, they played keepball for the rest of the game, which hardly mattered as league leaders Bayern were six goals up.

The key word in the banner was the German for “son of a bitch” which has become a code for Dietmar Hopp, Hoffenheim’s 79-year-old billionaire owner.

The majority of Bundesliga clubs are, in theory, fan owned and supporters are hostile to the rich owners who have transformed English, French and Italian football. Bayern fans were showing support for the ultras at their great rival Borussia Dortmund, who used the inflammatory phrase to describe Hopp and were then banned by the German football federation (DFB) from travelling to games away at Hoffenheim.

Banners insulting Hopp and criticising the DFB for attacking terrace culture were also unveiled by Cologne and Union Berlin fans. The latter led to their game against Wolfsburg being interrupted.

The previous week, the match between Borussia Moenchengladach and Hoffenheim was halted when home fans unveiled a banner showing Hopp in rifle crosshairs.

On Wednesday, when Schalke hosted Bayern in the German Cup, home fans unfurled a banner asking their opponents if they tried the same insult “will you stop playing so we’ll get a penalty shootout?” Bayern won 1-0.

German League fixtures (1430 GMT unless stated)

Saturday: Bayer Leverkusen vs Eintracht Frankfurt, Schalke vs Hoffenheim, Freiburg vs Union Berlin, Wolfsburg vs Leipzig, Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Borussia Dortmund (1730)

Sunday: Bayern Munich vs Augsburg (1430), Mainz vs Fortuna Duesseldorf ( 1700)