FC Bayern is sticking to its guns – and showing no leniency towards its own fan scene. The entire south curve in the Allianz Arena will remain closed for the Champions League home game against Union Saint-Gilloise on Wednesday evening. In doing so, the German record champions are deliberately going beyond the UEFA sanctions and sending out a clear signal following the pyro scandal in December
Almost two weeks ago, the club had already decided to block all 9,336 seats in the lower tier of the south curve. This affects blocks 109 to 117, whose tickets were cancelled early. Although the club left a loophole open at the time and stated that at least the outer blocks could possibly be reopened, this scenario is now finally off the table
As reported by BILD, the ban will not be lifted on the day before the game either. This means that even those fans who were not involved in the pyro incidents will be left out. A step that has caused massive resentment in the fan scene – but is considered to be without alternative internally at FC Bayern
Bayern goes further than UEFA
The comparison with the actual UEFA penalty is particularly remarkable. The European soccer association had only imposed a partial ban on blocks 111 to 114 after the massive burning of pyrotechnics at the Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon in December. Around 4,800 seats would have had to remain empty
FC Bayern deliberately opted for a much tougher approach and blocked the entire lower tier of the South Curve. The background is of an organizational nature – and at the same time politically intentional. There is free seating in the South Curve at international matches, and the tickets are not personalized. It is therefore practically impossible to specifically sort out the fans involved
This is precisely what the club wanted to prevent. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen in particular made it clear early on that the club would not tolerate any circumvention of the penalty. At the beginning of January, he said during a visit to a fan club: „But we don’t want to allow those who are to be affected to organize tickets anywhere else.“
Ultras react with criticism – Bayern remains firm
However, it is questionable whether this goal will be fully achieved. According to BILD information, numerous Ultras who were involved in the pyro action are said to have secured tickets in other areas of the stadium. Apparently, this could not be completely ruled out
Nevertheless, the „Südkurve München“ fan scene reacted with clear criticism. In a statement, they spoke of a collective punishment and appealed for cohesion among the supporters. „No matter how you see pyrotechnics in the stadium, we must not allow ourselves to be divided by collective punishment,“ they said. It was striking that the criticism referred exclusively to the partial ban imposed by UEFA – not explicitly to the more far-reaching measures taken by FC Bayern
FCB coach Vincent Kompany, meanwhile, regrets the exclusion of fans: „It’s a shame, of course. Bayern have always been successful at home, and that’s always had something to do with the support. But we still have 70,000 fans there, but of course we hope it doesn’t happen often. The fans are very important to us,“ he explained at the pre-match press conference
Bayern star Aleksandar Pavlovic said: „Of course it’s a shame that some of the fans won’t be able to be there tomorrow. I hope they can be back soon. We just have to play our game tomorrow.“
Signal effect beyond the game
In principle, FC Bayern accepts the empty stands in order to send a clear signal. In this case, security, control and deterrence take precedence over atmosphere and support. The fact that the club is deliberately exacerbating a conflict with parts of its own fan scene is taken into account
For those responsible in Munich, it is all about credibility and prevention. The message is clear: pyrotechnics in the stadium have consequences – and if necessary, these will be stricter than those demanded by external authorities
It remains to be seen whether this tough stance will lead to a rethink in the South Curve in the long term or whether it will further harden the fronts, but one thing is already clear: FC Bayern no longer has any room for manoeuvre on this issue.