The regional league game between Türkgücü Munich and the amateurs of FC Bayern Munich was canceled shortly after kick-off after a police operation with injuries. The trigger for Bayern fans was a flag with a Kurdish symbol, said a police spokesman on Saturday afternoon when asked. As a result, the mood among the fans changed. The police then called for reinforcements.
According to the police, the fans did not take down the flag despite being asked, so the officials used pepper spray, it was said. Several people were injured as a result. How many was initially unclear. They were treated on site as an outpatient. According to FC Bayern’s statement, only two minutes had been played before the referee first interrupted and then stopped the game. Twitter users accused the police of excessive harshness.
The reason for the game being abandoned was that security was no longer guaranteed, as the Bavarian Football Association announced. “The fact that the game was stopped can by no means be in the interests of football – any form of violence has no place on our pitches,” said the association. It was initially unclear whether the Kurdish symbol was an emblem of the banned PKK.
“The fact is that Turkish football fans were upset. The colleagues deployed then approached the Bayern block,” said spokesman Werner Kraus for the Munich police about the incidents. “We had to use pepper spray to take down the flag.” The police could no longer tolerate the provocation by Bayern fans.
In the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul, six people died in an attack last Sunday and more than 80 were injured. The Turkish government blamed the PKK, the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and the Kurdish militia YPG. They deny responsibility.
