The activist of the environmental association who flew over the Munich stadium before the Blues match failed to be shot by the police stationed around the enclosure. In its hazardous flight, it injured two people, including a Frenchman.
The clash between the Blues and the Mannschaft, won by Kylian Mbappé’s teammates, almost did not take place on Tuesday evening. The pilot, a member of the environmental NGO Greenpeace, who flew over the lawn of the Allianz Arena in Munich on Tuesday evening narrowly avoided being shot by German police, we learned on Wednesday.
“The snipers already had it in their sights”, said the Minister of the Interior of the region of Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital, Joachim Herrmann, in a statement sent to AFP. “If the police had determined that it was a terrorist attack, he would have paid for it with his life”, he added. The shooters did not finally give up pulling the trigger until they saw the Greenpeace logo on the para-sail, he explained.
Two wounded, including a French
A few minutes before kick-off, the man at the ULM entered the stadium from the air, with his canopy inscribed «kick out oil» (“Outside oil”), before being unbalanced by a cable carrying the spider cam, this aerial camera which hovers above the playing field.
The activist had difficulty restoring control before grazing a grandstand and getting damaged, without damage, on the lawn where the players were to evolve just after. “During his approach maneuver, he injured two men, according to the latest information. Both had to be taken care of by the emergency services and were taken to hospital ”, detailed a spokesman for the Munich police, Werner Kraus.
They are a 36-year-old Frenchman and a 42-year-old Ukrainian who suffered “Head injuries”. They had left the hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
For UEFA, “This reckless act – which could have had very serious consequences for a large number of people present – injured several people attending the match who are now in hospital”.
In a post-match press conference, Didier Deschamps explained that he had suffered a bump in the head because he hit the sidelines while taking shelter when the apparatus burst. . “At first I thought it was something planned. Yes, we came close to the drama, it did not go far. On the bench with Guy [Guy Stéphan, son adjoint, ndlr] we took refuge a little, said the French coach. It doesn’t have to be. When we see events like that, it will remain literature but it gives us some perspective. Life can change quickly, we must not forget that. ”
“Alas, not everything went as planned”
The German Federation (DFB) also condemned the incident after the match: “This person has put themselves in danger and hurt others. From our point of view this is unacceptable […] The consequences could have been much more serious ”, DFB spokesman Jens Grittner fumed after the match. “This action was never intended to disrupt the game or hurt people. We hope that no one has been seriously injured. Our actions are always peaceful and non-violent. Unfortunately, not everything went as planned ”, justified Greenpeace on Twitter on Tuesday night, saying he was “sorry”.
“The judicial authorities will take the necessary decisions”, for its part added UEFA, which took the opportunity to defend its environmental policy in passing. “UEFA and its partners are fully committed to making this Euro a sustainable tournament and many initiatives have been put in place to offset carbon emissions” of the competition, organized for the first time in a format spread across the continent, in eleven cities in eleven countries. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) also reacted by announcing that there would be consequences for Greenpeace: “this will be treated with the utmost rigor, these are clear violations», he told Bavarian Radio. He also clarified that it is not a “Minor offense”.
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