VIDEO: Bundesliga still facing fan protests. Cologne amazed at his tricks

On Friday, the first match of the 22nd round of the top German competition took place. Cologne welcomed Werder Bremen. This time, too, the match was disrupted by fan protests, which the Bundesliga has been facing for several weeks. However, there was an unusual novelty on the pitch that amused the internet.

Here we go again. Cologne are one of the traditional German sides, they have fantastic fans, some of the best in the country. Yet since the turn of the millennium, it has struggled to establish itself among the elite.

It is now in the top flight for the fifth season in a row, the longest it has spent in the league since 2000. But the prospects for retention are not looking good. On Friday, they lost 0:1 at home to Werder Bremen.

Cologne are currently in 16th position. This guarantees a barrier. However, they are losing out on fifteenth place and the only two worse teams are not so much worse off that they can count on the certainty of the barrier over the Rhine.

So there is little reason for joy and delight in the city. But that changed on Friday, even though the team notched up another defeat. The Bundesliga has been facing major protests for several weeks now, and these continued in Cologne’s clash with Bremen on Friday.

However, there was one big news on the pitch. Tennis balls, coins and fruit of all sorts have apparently become tired. One of the fans took it upon himself to smuggle a remote control car into the stands. He then took it onto the pitch and entertained himself, the fans and the social media administrator of the Cologne club.

“The remote control cars got on the pitch and are doing tricks. So did the tennis balls,” the administrators announced on Twitter in the 51st minute of the match. Six minutes later there was an update: “ The cars and balls are gone. One was doing stunts, spins and such.”

Tenisové 🥎, čokoládové 🪙, 🍎 a 🍋 už tu boli…čas na niečo viac…technického 🚘😅😁

Protesty 🇩🇪 fanušíkov sú viac a viac originálne 😀 pic.twitter.com/W8FdDrY91p

— Michal Řežábek (@MichalRezabek28) February 16, 2024

The Bundesliga is facing protests from fans. Why?

Fan protests have been going on in Germany for weeks. The Bundesliga is facing a lot of unpleasantness. It’s a problem for the players, the attractiveness of the matches is decreasing, they are getting longer. It’s a problem for several reasons.

The reason for the protests is obvious. The management of the competition wants to sell a share of the TV and marketing rights to a private investor. Given that Germany can be seen as the last place in Europe where fans have a voice and a place, this is a big deal.

Fans fear that the investor will focus on the TV product instead of stadium visitors. For that, for example, the much-watched Premier League, where money plays a major role, often comes in for criticism. In Germany, they still put the fans first.

Moreover, the Bundesliga boasts a 50+1 rule, which is relatively rare in the rest of the world. In fact, under this rule, a majority of the club must remain in the hands of the fans or club members. Fans fear that this rule could gradually be overlooked or abolished.

Source: Bundesliga, Twitter, ESPN, AP News