A Bayern fan has been banned from the stadium for life – and is now going to court. A dispute arises about the motives for the ban.
A long-time FC Bayern Munich fan has sued his club because of a lifelong stadium ban against him. Now the process is running against the record champions because of a protest banner.
Bayern fan Rob F. is said to have rolled out an unauthorized banner with the message “Bayern amateurs against Monday games” during a game of the second team of FC Bayern in the Grünwalder Stadium, for which he was banned from the stadium for life.
The ban applies to the Allianz Arena as well as the Grünwalder Stadium and the training area on Säbener Straße.
As a witness of the process that has been going on since Tuesday, a security officer from FC Bayern testified about the motivation for the severe punishment: “We have to have such banners checked for fire protection regulations. But that did not happen.” Instead, the banner was smuggled into the stadium.
The fan’s lawyer, Andreas Hüttl, suspects a different background for the punishment. His client is a Qatar critic and has often criticized the club’s partnership with Qatar Airways, as well as initiating panel discussions on working conditions and human rights in Qatar. In addition, Rob F. applied for an extension of the association’s statutes through which FC Bayern would undertake to comply with human rights according to the guidelines of the UN. However, this was rejected.
FC Bayern: Should critical fans be silenced?
This brought Hüttl to the conclusion: “This is about a selective decision against my client. There were hundreds of unannounced banners in the stadium that did not result in a ban. That is just a pretended reason. In fact, this is about the club wants to get rid of such a critical fan, wants to silence him. “
Gerhard Riedl, attorney at FC Bayern, contradicted this theory: “This is not about content. It’s just about fire protection.” In addition, the lawyer referred to previous unannounced protests by the plaintiff, which made them repeat offenders: “A house ban is required here,” concluded Riedl.
The negotiation will continue. Hüttl has already submitted applications to summon the former chairman of the board, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the board, Herbert Hainer, and board member Jan-Christian Dreesen as witnesses. A decision on this is still pending.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
