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.



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
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Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”