If the fans of a European league stand out above the rest when it comes to making demands and protests, those are those of the Bundelisga. The most explicit banners and messages tend to appear with some regularity in the stadiums of the German championship, whether against the state clubs, the increase in ticket prices or attacks on football traditions.
This Wednesday the Munich Allianz Arena hosted one of the most attractive matches of the day in the Champions League together with Liverpool-Real Madrid. The local team, Bayern Munich, and the French Paris Saint-Germain faced each other.
In sports, the victory went to the Bavarians, who leave the Parisians in a very delicate situation, with only 4 points out of a possible 15 and three tough games ahead to try to qualify for the knockout rounds.
But the crash also had a component that went beyond sports, because at the beginning of the match local fans charged against Nasser Al-Khelaifipresident of PSG, who was compared to the absolutist king Louis XIV.
«Football is me»
“Minister, club owner, television rights holder, member of the UEFA Executive Committee and president of the European Club Association, all in one,” recalled one of the banners that accompanied an image of the manager’s crossed out face. Qatari from PSG. “Le foot c’est moi” (I am football), read another giant canvas in memory of Louis XIV’s quote “I am the State.”
Bayern fans pointed out how striking it is that the president of their rival can combine that position with being a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, president of the European Club Association (ECA) and holder of television rights as president of the network. beIN Sports. An accumulation of charges that could well present a conflict of interest.
The protest did not please the management of Bayern Munich, which this Thursday was forced to apologize to Paris Saint-Germain and its president through an official statement. «FC Bayern would like to apologize when its opponents and its representatives in its stadium feel personally attacked in this way and in this tone and are offended by it.
In its note, the German club assures that the banners “were not authorized” by the club, and that they also “do not reflect its position” nor are they “in line with the good and long relationship between the two clubs.”
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