The Bundesliga is on hiatus because of the World Cup, but FC Bayern’s second team will be in action for a few more weeks. There was actually an attractive regional league derby on Saturday afternoon: The U23s of the record champions were guests at Türkgücü Munich, the game was to take place at the SV Heimstetten facility. But the ball didn’t roll for two minutes. The trigger was a banner from the Bayern supporters with the words “Bayern-Fanklub Kurdistan”, which they didn’t want to take down at the start of the game. The police then stormed the guest block, and truncheons and spray guns were used. The players of both teams were sent to the dressing room and came out again a good half hour later, but in the end the game didn’t get started.
While Türkgücü fans and representatives of FC Bayern were outraged by the banner shown, Bayern fans accused the police of a completely disproportionate effort. “It’s lucky that nothing more happened,” said one who was in the fan block. One was shocked by the brutality with which the police had acted. A rumor circulated among fans on Saturday night that a child had been taken to the hospital because of the spray application. There was no official statement from FC Bayern early on Saturday evening, they wanted to get a more detailed picture of what was going on, it said when asked.
The supporters blame the police alone for the fact that the situation escalated so quickly
Türkgücü supporters are particularly appalled because the provocative fence flag was shown just a few days after the terrorist attack in Istanbul. However, the flag cannot be seen as a direct reaction to the attack in Turkey: it has been around for a long time, and Bayern fans have hung it up at at least one home game in the past. The Türkgücü fans are said to have known before the game or at least suspected that this fence flag would also be brought to the game in Heimstetten. However, the club, this time the home team, wanted to exercise their domiciliary rights and prevent the hanging, which the Bayern fans are said to have known in advance.
The police, who were present in large numbers, had built up in front of the visiting fans long before kick-off. According to SZ information, they had received discounted tickets and did not have to go into the so-called “guest cage”, a fenced area that is intended for guest fans in the regional league. Apparently, this gave the impression that the fans would not hang up the controversial fence flag in return.
A Bayern fan explained to the SZ that the connection to the attacks in Istanbul had not been seen at all. The FC Bayern supporters blame the police alone for the fact that the situation escalated so quickly and immediately after the start of the regional league derby. A video circulating among fans shows a police officer hitting a fan lying on the ground several times with a baton. A game abandonment, as you can see in the Bayern fan camp, could have been decided without physical police action.
According to the association, game abandonment “can by no means be in the spirit of football”
Türkgücü Munich was actually happy to have found a stadium at all for the remaining home games this calendar year. The third division relegated only has a limited home game contingent for the Grünwalder Stadion. It was a sad return to the sidelines for Bayern coach Holger Seitz. The 48-year-old, who was head coach of the team twice between 2018 and 2021, took it over a few days ago from Martin Demichelis, who will be the future coach of River Plate in Argentina.
The Bavarian Football Association, which is responsible for the regional league, made a brief statement on its website. “The fact that the game was abandoned can by no means be in the spirit of football – any form of violence has no place on our pitches! A further classification of the events is reserved for the sports courts,” says Jürgen Igelspacher. The BFV managing director happened to be a spectator on site.