Bundesliga protests along with Germany

Borussia Dortmund and Cologne players helped clear chocolate coins, thrown in protest, off the pitch

Protest is in the air in Germany at the moment, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets across the country on Saturday to demonstrate against alleged far-right plans for mass deportation of migrants. This came after farmers took their turn earlier in the week.

For the country’s top football league, it’s not an unusual state of affairs, with Bundesliga fans renowned for their willingness to make their voices heard. The primary cause for concern this season has been last month’s approval of a plan to sell off some of the league’s TV rights in order to raise an injection of investment capital.

The latest incident of protest, which started even before December’s approval of a deal amended after its initial rejection, came at Cologne on Saturday.

The home side’s match against Borussia Dortmund was delayed for eight minutes as Ultras, the hardcore fans, of both sides threw chocolate coins on to the pitch. It has become a regular occurence in the last month or so and comes as fans across the country continue to remain silent for the first 12 minutes of matches, in a nod to their position as the “12th man” on the pitch.

Coaches speak out against the far-right

While Bundesliga protests in recent years have covered a wide range of issues – from Bayern Munich’s relationship with Qatar and Rwanda through to playing matches on a Monday night – those that caught the wider public imagination over the weekend also impacted the Bundesliga.

“We need to be clear and stand up to our values with our democratic positioning in those terms. I think that we, not just here at Bayer Leverkusen, but in the whole society, we a very open and international,” said Xabi Alonso, head coach of the league leaders ahead of the weekend.

“We must believe that we are in a very open society, that everyone has the right to come here and bring the best they can bring and embrace this culture wherever they come from, like I have,” he added.

His counterpart at Freiburg, Christian Streich, also spoke on the subject in his prematch press conference, saying that “anyone who does nothing now has learned nothing from school or history,” and calling on fans to take part in demonstrations.

While there was little in the way of mass demonstration in the stands on that particular issue, the politically-engaged nature of Bundesliga fanbases and coaches meant football offered no shortage of support.

Author: Matt Pearson