Irate fans could provide more Bundesliga banner headlines

Last week, away to Hoffenheim, Bayern fans unveiled a banner with 17 minutes to go which halted the match.

When the players returned, they played keep-ball for the rest of the game, which hardly mattered as league leaders Bayern were six goals up.

The key word in the banner was the German for "son of a bitch" which has become a code for Dietmar Hopp, Hoffenheim's 79-year-old billionaire owner.

The majority of Bundesliga clubs are, in theory, fan owned and supporters are hostile to the rich owners who have transformed English, French and Italian football.

Bayern fans were showing support for the ultras at their great rival Borussia Dortmund, who used the inflammatory phrase to describe Hopp and were then banned by the German football federation (DFB) from travelling to games away at Hoffenheim.