The insults against Dietmar Hopp shake their heads beyond the stadium boundaries. The 79-year-old is well received by players, coaches and officials.
Sinsheim / Berlin (dpa) - hate posters in Sinsheim and Cologne, swore songs in Dortmund. The repeated hostilities against Dietmar Hopp, the 79-year-old patron of TSG Hoffenheim, caused dismay and incomprehension in the Bundesliga.
"We have had a sad climax in this regard today," said DFL boss Cristian Seifert. "There is no excuse for that." Any kind of hate should "have no place". The fan curves seem split.
The Bundesliga games between TSG and FC Bayern and between BVB and SC Freiburg had to be interrupted due to the incidents. In Sinsheim, the Hoffenheim and Munich professionals used the remaining time from the 77th minute for an unusual sign: they only kicked the ball back and forth symbolically.
"Is that the football we want? NO!" Tweeted Bayern professional Thomas Müller. "Don't give hate campaigns, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and all other hostilities. For love of the game! For more tolerance in our society!" On Saturday evening there was also a defamatory poster at the Cologne game against Schalke 04, which delayed the restart after half time.
"So far, the Bundesliga has not got a grip on it. I think we have now reached a point that can no longer be tolerated," said BVB sports director Michael Zorc and added his game with a glance: "Such swearing songs against one Person are unspeakable. Therefore the referee reacted correctly. "
The Dortmund fans are repeat offenders, the latest penalty by the DFB sports court is probably the origin of the numerous insults on Saturday. Because of their repeated hostility to Hopp, the BVB supporters had been given a two-year away ban by the German Football Association for the games in Sinsheim. In the previous week, fans of Borussia Mönchengladbach showed a similar poster with a hop in the crosshairs in the game against TSG as Dortmund once did.
"This agitation against people is unacceptable," said Freiburg coach Christian Streich. "People love football in this country, it has an important function. If it goes on like this, I'm behind it that a game is simply ended and you go home. You mustn't overlook it."
Hopp did not initially comment on Saturday. The billionaire, who had helped his Hoffenheimers to get through to the Bundesliga with years of great financial support, has in the past been the target of massive insults by various fan groups. For these supporters, the patron is a symbol of commercialization like the Red Bull Club RB Leipzig.
"I can not understand that there are people who write posters to defame other people who do a lot for society and sport," said Cologne coach Achim Beierlorzer. "I won't understand that in life. You should pull these people out of the block. Block the block, in, out - end. No more stadiums plus everything that can be done in court. There are always only a few who do something like this we all have to get up and fight back. They can't get fellow combatants. "
Munich sports director Hasan Salihamidzic wrote on Twitter about a sad day. "A low point. Shameful. Hate and intolerance have lost nothing in football and in society. (...) We all in football have to tackle this issue without compromise, we at FC Bayern will analyze it now and then we will also react. "