The Bundesliga and banners have not been best friends as of late. Offensive banners criticizing Hoffenheim investor Dietmar Hopp caused the last 15 minutes of Bayern Munich’s last game to be spent juggling around the ball. Schalke fans took note of the stoppage of play and unveiled their own banner in Tuesday’s DFB-Pokal match.
Schalke banner: “If we display ‘son of a bitch’, will you stop playing and we'll get a penalty shootout?” #S04FCB https://t.co/vKwOpBtws8
— Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) March 3, 2020
Sometimes you just need to take a moment to appreciate pure genius. Unfortunately for Schalke, the match wasn’t stopped and Bayern went on to win 1-0. The banner did spark a belief that there was a secret deal between Bayern and Schalke to leave the pitch. Bayern’s Twitter was quick to deny anything of the sort.
Contrary to reports today by BILD and Sport1, #FCBayern would like to make clear that there is absolutely no agreement between FC Bayern and Schalke 04 regarding certain scenarios that would see both sides leave the pitch during tonight's DFB-Pokal quarter-final. pic.twitter.com/NDoSBOy76a
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) March 3, 2020
The situation with offensive banners attacking Hopp and the protocol to put matches on hold brings an interesting point. Why isn’t there such a strong reaction to racism during matches? The strict tactic to have players leave the pitch due to a Hopp banner was put in force during Union Berlin and Wolfsburg match on Sunday.
More banners in the Bundesliga today...
This time the Union Berlin Wolfsburg match has been stopped due to a banner in the home end.Protests against the German Football Association and Dietmar Hopp continue... pic.twitter.com/oEnwBdfctu
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 1, 2020
Fans of VfL Bochum in the 2. Bundesliga asked the question of why a wealthy man is protected more than players being attacked with racism
Derweil in Bochum...#vflsvs pic.twitter.com/F3xw21Fe09
— Plattsport (@plattsport) March 1, 2020
The banner reads:
“A son of a bitch is insulted: All of Germany is shocked — Racism on a daily basis: nothing happens.”
There are a lot of questions to be asked on the country’s handling with the banner crisis. One thing is for certain, Schalke lost its match but the fans won the hearts of many with their hilarious antics.
Bayern will advance to the semifinal along with fourth-tier side Saarbrucken. The remaining two semifinalists will be decided on Wednesday between Bayer Leverkusen vs. Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Werder Bremen.
