Bundesliga clubs and the German Football League used Saturday’s games to express solidarity with Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion of the country.

Leaders Bayern Munich displayed the Ukrainian national colours of blue and yellow on the screens at the Allianz Arena ahead of their match against Bayer Leverkusen.

“It is very difficult to focus on football with the horrific images of this war that we see every day,” Bayern Munich chief Oliver Kahn said.

There was also a big banner covering the centre circle saying “Stop the war!”.

Players entered the pitch wearing blue and yellow jackets which they also wore during a one-minute silence for the victims.

Referees at the Allianz Arena wore blue-and-yellow armbands, and the DFL’s Bundesliga logo on TV was also in the Ukrainian national colours.

In Wolfsburg, the centre circle was turned into a peace sign, while the home team wore shirts with the same sign instead of the logo of their sponsors Volkswagen.

Wearing a jersey of the Ukraine national team, the German Food and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir watched his team VfB Stuttgart beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Özdemir, a member of the Greens, described as “good news” that Russia and Belarus were excluded from international events and associations.

Football in particular had to take care of how it was filmed and where events were allocated, he added.

“The people in Ukraine are not fighting this battle only for themselves,” Özdemir said, adding that the “Putins of this world” should not succeed.

Özdemir expressed “great respect” for Russians criticising President Vladimir Putin, saying “They know what they are risking.”

Russian teams and sports associations have been excluded from international competitions after the invasion of Ukraine.

Advertising board slogans asked for peace, similar to Berlin’s Olympic Stadium where they were yellow and blue with the word peace in several languages.

Fans also joined the show of solidarity with banners calling for peace. 

(dpa/NAN)