Werder Bremen under investigation, allegedly spied on opponents using drone
The world of football is full of surprises, and Bundesliga club Werder Bremen have added fuel to the fire by allegedly using a unique method to spy on their opponents - a drone. They were to face Hoffenheim on Thursday, and on the previous day, Bremen flew a drone above their training grounds. While the perpetrators have accepted doing so, they denied spying.
Bremen general manager's comments regarding the issue
Bremen's general manager, Frank Baumann, admitted that their club had a person in a car around 500m away from Hoffenheim's training ground. However, he denied any previous knowledge of his club planning to use a drone, but said that it was common practice in the Bundesliga to gather information about the opponents. Baumann said Bremen had also removed spies from trees on earlier occasions.
Bremen later accepted using a drone
However, Baumann's comments turned out to be a deliberate falsification after the club updated on their website that they had indeed used a drone during Hoffenheim's training, and it was done so after Baumann himself, Bremen coach Florian Kohfeldt, and their analysis team had a discussion. Baumann himself then admitted so in a press conference albeit stating that all issues were resolved with Hoffenheim.
Why could it still be a problem for Bremen?
Though Bremen accepted flying a drone and publicly issued an apology to Hoffenheim, the latter did report the matter to the police when they saw the device. This could cause problems for Bremen, because although they insist they have done nothing illegal, flying a drone over a crowd is illegal in Germany and could result in a fine of £45,000 for the Bundesliga team.
But, what went down in the match between the two?
Amid all the ruckus about spying, the match between Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim, played out at Bremen's home, Weserstadion, ended in a 1-1 draw. Although Hoffenheim had taken the lead through a Leonardo Bittencourt goal, the hosts equalized in the second-half through Theodor Gebre Selassie.
Another spying incident which happened during the World Cup
During the 2018 World Cup, Sweden had sent a spy to gather information about their South Korean opponents. The Swedish coach had himself admitted to this, but apologized to the South Koreans for causing them any distress. Interestingly, the South Korean manager had said that he had his players switch shirts to confuse the spy, as he believes westerners cannot easily differentiate between Asians.
