RB Leipzig

Cologne fans' protest of RB Leipzig causes match to be delayed

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:37 p.m. ET

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Ryan Rosenblatt

RB Leipzig is not a popular club in Germany. It is a creation of Red Bull and many fans see the club as a corporate marketing arm that is not worthy of being part of the sport. The outrage has been intensified this season because RB Leipzig are playing in the Bundesliga for the first time ever.

So when RB Leipzig visited Cologne on Sunday, the fans staged a protest. A protest that blocked the street into the stadium and kept the RB Leipzig bus from getting in.

The protest was entirely peaceful, but the match was delayed by 15 minutes because of the extra time it took RB Leipzig to get into the stadium.

Cologne fans' protest comes a week after Borussia Monchengladbach fans protested RB Leipzig by staying silent for the first 19 minutes of their match against the club. Earlier this season, a large group of Borussia Dortmund fans chose to go watch the club's U-23 team instead of travel to see BVB play in Leipzig as a form of protest.

The concept of a corporation-owned team that exists just to market the product wouldn't sit well in most places, but especially in Germany. There, the sport is considered one of the people and goes as far as to require 50+1 fan management, which means that fans have to make up the majority of the board. Red Bull found a way around that by raising membership prices so high that very few fans are members or on the board.

Despite the outrage, RB Leipzig have thrived. They've gone from the fifth division to the Bundesliga and are not racking up results in the top flight as Red Bull continues to pour money into the club.

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