Bundesliga Tennis balls are flying again
Union fans cause the game to be interrupted in Mainz
Status: 07.02.2024 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Not Wimbledon, but Mainz
Quelle: Getty Images/Neil Baynes
It’s not particularly original. Like the fans of Hertha BSC, Union supporters provoked a break in the game during the catch-up game in Mainz by throwing tennis balls onto the court. The reaction of the home supporters is telling.
Even the 1. FC Union players were annoyed. Robin Gosens ran in front of the fan curve and gestured wildly. It did not help. The Berlin supporters who traveled with us kept throwing tennis balls onto the court during the catch-up game in Mainz (click here for the live ticker). They started their action just before halftime and didn’t stop. In total the game was interrupted for over ten minutes. Whenever referee Martin Petersen whistled to restart the game, balls flew onto the pitch again.
For weeks, the active fan scene in the Bundesliga and second division stadiums has been protesting against the fact that the DFL is looking for an investor. In addition to banners and sentimental boycotts, chocolate coins and tennis balls were also thrown onto the playing fields. Games had to be interrupted.
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In Hertha BSC’s second division game against Hamburger SV last Saturday, the game was about to be abandoned and could only be resumed after half an hour. The critics of the investor entry see, among other things, the danger of external influence on football.
Khedira talks to the Union fans
In Mainz, the Union fans’ action met with little approval. The host fans didn’t take part and didn’t throw any balls onto the pitch. The visiting supporters were even booed because of the ten-minute interruption they provoked. Union captain Rani Khedira spoke to the fans. Apparently with success. After ten minutes the spook was over and the game could continue. Jonathan Burkardt headed Mainz into the lead, which Gosens immediately equalized before the half-time whistle.
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The fan protests recently caused a lack of understanding for Martin Kind, majority shareholder of Hannover 96: “I think you can’t solve problems by throwing tennis balls. “That far exceeds my imagination,” said the 79-year-old entrepreneur to the “Hamburger Morgenpost”. “If you want something, you have to criticize, but also suggest alternative solutions.”
