German Football Clubs Bizarrely Conclude Match over Offensive Fan Banner (+Video)

Play was first interrupted briefly in the 67th minute, moments after Leon Goretzka scored Bayern's sixth goal, and when Bayern supporters in the away end displayed banners insulting Hoffenheim benefactor and owner Dietmar Hopp (79).

Ten minutes later, a second banner appeared with a similar message and referee Christian Dingert again stopped the play, Deutsche Welle reported.

Bayern's players approached their supporters and pleaded with them to stop, as did members of Bayern Munich's coaching staff and club board, including head coach Hansi Flick, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and board member Oliver Kahn.

Both teams then left the field as officials implemented level two of UEFA's three-step procedure – which was originally introduced as a response to incidents in racism in football.

When they re-emerged, the players ran down the remaining 13 minutes by simply passing the ball among themselves and refusing to play in a joint protest against the actions of the fans.

The head of the German Football League (DFL), Christian Seifert, said the protests against Hopp had reached a "depressing peak."

"The hostility has long since ceased to be acceptable and is to be condemned in the strongest of terms," he said in a statement. "There is no excuse. There is no place for any form of hate."

The banners displayed by the Bayern supporters were the latest in a long range of protests by German football fans against Hopp and Hoffenheim, a dispute that has escalated dramatically in recent weeks and months.

In June 2019, several Borussia Dortmund fans were handed heavy fines after being found guilty of singing defamatory songs about Hopp and displaying the same derogatory banners.