Bundesliga Fan Protests with Tennis Balls and Toy Cars Interrupt Werder Bremen Win

16 February 2024, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: Remote-controlled cars drive on the pitch next to tennis balls during the German Bundesliga so0ccer match between 1. FC Cologne and Werder Bremen at RheinEnergieStadion. (dpa)
16 February 2024, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: Remote-controlled cars drive on the pitch next to tennis balls during the German Bundesliga so0ccer match between 1. FC Cologne and Werder Bremen at RheinEnergieStadion. (dpa)
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Bundesliga Fan Protests with Tennis Balls and Toy Cars Interrupt Werder Bremen Win

16 February 2024, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: Remote-controlled cars drive on the pitch next to tennis balls during the German Bundesliga so0ccer match between 1. FC Cologne and Werder Bremen at RheinEnergieStadion. (dpa)
16 February 2024, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: Remote-controlled cars drive on the pitch next to tennis balls during the German Bundesliga so0ccer match between 1. FC Cologne and Werder Bremen at RheinEnergieStadion. (dpa)

Fan protests halted another game in the Bundesliga when supporters threw tennis balls and sent remote control cars careening around the penalty area during Werder Bremen’s 1-0 win over Cologne.

The match was halted for almost 10 minutes early in the second half. Fans have been protesting at games across the country against a proposed deal to sell a future stake in the league to a private equity investor.

Players kicked the tennis balls off the pitch as two bright orange cars sped up and down the penalty box doing flips and about turns.

In previous protests, apples and chocolate coins have been thrown onto the pitch. Last week, a second division game between Hamburg and Hannover was interrupted after fans attached bicycle padlocks to a goalpost. Officials cut the locks off with a power saw.

When Friday’s game restarted, Bremen returned to winning ways while Cologne’s relegation worries deepened.

Substitute Justin Njinmah scored with 20 minutes remaining. Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe missed Mitchell Weiser’s cross from the right and Nijnmah turned the ball into the empty net. Bremen climbed into seventh spot.

The defeat was a blow to Cologne, which appeared to have steadied after a poor run left it in relegation trouble.

Since Timo Schulz took over on Jan. 4, Cologne had lost only once and picked up five of a possible nine points before Friday’s reverse.

The inability to score has cost it dearly, and defeat meant it remained third from bottom, six points from safety.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.