There was not only soccer to be seen at the friendly match in Salzburg, but also a lot of smoke. FC Bayern’s fans had a clear message and once again put the club in need of an explanation.
While the Munich team played a decent game on the pitch and won 5:0 against RB Salzburg, the supporters in the stands once again caused a stir. In the visitors‘ block, the Bayern fans set off numerous smoke bombs and presented an unmistakable banner: „We see red with FCB AG’s preferred partner… FUCK RB!“ In addition to the well-known protest against the Red Bull Group, the action should also be seen as a direct response to critical statements from the club’s management.
Previously, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen had openly commented on possible consequences during a fan club visit to Neufahrn: „We will have to ban blocks 111 to 114. But we are really considering whether to ban the entire south curve. We have already discussed this, but have not yet made a final decision.“ The reason for this is a UEFA penalty for pyrotechnics at the Champions League match against Benfica in December. Now the new, almost provocative action by Munich fans with smoke bombs.
Threat of exclusion of the entire south curve
Specifically, the sanction initially affects around 4,800 seats, which will remain closed for the home match against Union Saint-Gilloise. But there are much more far-reaching measures in the pipeline. Dreesen explained: „The problem is that if I now block blocks 111 to 114, then it will be spread out and it will affect some of the wrong people. We could just as easily say we’re blocking it completely. But then it will affect even more people who weren’t involved at all.“
Dreesen made it clear: „But we don’t want to allow those who should be affected to organize tickets somewhere else.“ The fans have until 6 January to submit suggestions to the club to avert a complete ban on the south curve.
If there is another incident, FC Bayern could even face the exclusion of the entire south curve – including the middle and upper tiers – due to an ongoing UEFA suspended sentence. The recent pyro show in Salzburg shows that parts of the active fan scene are clearly not intimidated by the threat of punishment. Even if there is no threat of punishment in the test match context, the action will hardly have escaped the attention of Bayern bosses.