Tennis balls rain down on players during Bundesliga match
A bizarre protest by fans in the Bundesliga this weekend saw one match paused for almost five minutes as tennis balls and chocoloate coins rained down on the players.
The match between Bochum and Union Berlin was stopped by the referee after 14 minutes with no score on the board as hundreds of tennis balls were thrown on to the field as part of a protest against the German football league (DFL) over plans to secure private equity inverstment in return for a share of television rights across the next two decades.
As balls were cleared from the field by a combination of players and stewards, chocolate coins came next, providing a welcome sugar hit for Bochum striker Takumi Asano, who was seen unwrapping and eating one.
The snack clearly helped as he went on to score the opener in the fifth minute of the first-half stoppage-time that resulted from the pause in proceedings that the protest provided.
Goncalo Panciencia and Kevin Stoger grabbed two more in the second half as Bochum went on to win 3-0, handing Union its 10th defeat of what has so far been a nightmare season as it fights for survival at the wrong end of the table.
Protests were also seen across many other matches in both the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga as fans made their feelings known to the league body.
