The Reason Hoffenheim And Munich Players Are Just Warming Up In The Final 13 Minutes Of The Match

JAKARTA - Bayern Munchen appeared mighty in the continuation of the Bundesliga match week 24, where The Bavarians were able to beat the host Hoffenheim with a landslide score of 6-0, at the Rhein-Neckar Arena, Saturday 29 February. But there is something unique in this match, the two teams spent the last 13 minutes of the match just warming up on the field.

Why is that? The match was stopped in the 67th minute after Leon Goretzka scored Bayern's sixth goal. At that moment, some of the Bayern supporters began displaying banners reading 'Hopp bleibt en hurenshohn' which meant 'Hopp remains illegitimate.'

Don't see this every day ... Bayern and Hoffenheim played keepy-uppy for the final 10 minutes in protest of the Bayern fans who interrupted the game with hateful banners directed at Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp pic.twitter.com/hOODJnWvqf

- FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 29, 2020

This message is a mockery directed at Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp. About 10 minutes later, a second banner reading the same message was put up again by the Bayern fans. This time the referee Christian Dingert stopped the match again.

Bayern players approached their supporters and asked to stop showing the banners. Bayern coach Hansi Flick, Sports Director Hasan Salihamidzic, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and board member Oliver Kahn also asked for the banner not to be unfurled.

The two teams then left the pitch as the referee implemented UEFA's guideline procedures for dealing with incidents of racism in football matches. When the two players returned to the field, they spent the remaining 13 minutes with no intention of playing seriously. It looks more like a warm-up. This is a sign of the players' protest against the stubbornness of the Bayern fans.

Result: 0-6. The sporting success of #TSGFCB is of secondary importance, however. Due to hateful banners targeting Dietmar Hopp in the FC Bayern fan block, the game was suspended. After returning to the pitch, the teams ran down the clock by passing the ball amongst themselves. pic.twitter.com/GUonicjf5F

- FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) February 29, 2020

"I am ashamed of what happened and apologize to Dietmar Hopp. It's a dark day for football," said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

"We will take action against those supporters. There is no place for them in the football stadium, "he added.

German Football League (DFL) chairman Christian Seifert also criticized the actions of Bayern supporters. "This kind of hatred is unacceptable and should be severely condemned," he explained.

Hated Hopp for a long time

The banner displayed by Bayern supporters yesterday is the latest in a series of protests by German football fans against Hopp and Hoffenheim.

In June 2019, several Borussia Dortmund supporters were heavily fined after being found guilty of singing jokes to Hopp. They also showed off their underwear in the action.

Dortmund supporters are also not allowed to attend the two away matches at Hoffenheim. This punishment is permanent until the same mistake is repeated. When Dortmund and Hoffenheim met in December 2019, that sentence was upheld.

Last week, Borussia Monchengladbach supporters did the same when Hoffenheim drew 1-1. The incident resulted in Sports Director Max Eberil and captain Lars Stindl having to beg to remove the banners.

Interestingly, after yesterday's Bayern Munich supporter incident, Dortmund fans were once again warned by their Westfalenstadion club to stop cheering on Hopp in their 1-0 win over Freiburg.

Köln supporters then raised banners in the same message during the 3-0 win over Schalke 04. The Köln players and coaches had to beg their supporters to take down the banner.

Who is Dietmar Hopp?

Reporting from dictio.id, Dietmar Hopp was born in Heidelberg, Germany, April 26, 1940. He is a billionaire software entrepreneur in Germany. He was a co-founder of Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (SAP) in 1972 with other former IBM employees namely Hans Werner Hector, Klaus Tschira, Claus Wellenreuther and Hasso Plattner.

Hopp was CEO of SAP from 1988 to 1998, responsibilities include development and sales, public relations, national and international consulting, and administration, Hopp also served as chairman of the SAP supervisory board from 1998 to 2003, and a member of the board from 1998. 2003 to 2005.

He kept about 10 percent of his company's shares after taking office. After Hopp retired in 2005, the name of the street in front of SAP changed from Neurottstraße to Dietmar Hopp – Allee, in honor of Mr. Hopp.

In 2006, Hopp transferred 70 percent of his fortune (around 4 billion euros) to a charitable foundation, Dietmar Hopp – Stiftung. He created one of the largest foundations in Europe.

The foundation supports sports, medicine, education and social programs and he has distributed over US $ 470 million since its inception.

Forbes counts SAP's stake in the Dietmar Hopp Stiftung foundation against Hopp's net worth because Hopp himself controls both of them and can sell both at any time. He invests in life science and biotech companies including Switzerland's AC Immune, which is developing a drug for Alzheimer's sufferers.

Hopp was a financial supporter of the German football club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. When Hopp started supporting the club in 2000, Hoffenheim was playing in the fifth division of the German football league (Bundesliga).

Currently, Hoffenheim is in the top division of the Bundesliga. In their first season at the top of the league, namely 2008-2009, they led the league during the winter break. An achievement that the German public is suspicious of is thanks to Hopp's coffers.

Hopp is considered to buy instant success through his flush of money. That, in Germany, is considered against tradition. Since then, most of the football fans in Germany didn't like Hopp.

Hopp also spent $ 100 million to build a new 30,000-seat stadium called the Rhein-Neckar-Arena near Sinsheim for the Hoffenheim club.