Rain of tennis balls in Switzerland
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FC Basel fans staged a protest against a change to the kick-off time for their top-of-the-table clash against FC Luzern by throwing thousands of tennis balls on to the field.
A Swiss TV company arranged to have kickoff moved up to 12:45 p.m. to ensure the match would be finished in time for the 3 p.m. start of the ATP Basel tennis tournament between local boy Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
With the pitch almost covered in tennis balls, the referee had no choice but to send the players back to the dressing rooms.
But as soon as they were cleared by stewards and security staff, the crafty fans began to rain a second wave of balls on to the pitch - forcing a further delay at the Sportanlage Gersag Stadium.
In the end, Basel delighted their supporters by coming up with an injury-time equalizer that saw them rescue a point to remain top of the league - while in the tennis, Federer beat Djokovic to win the title in front of his hometown crowd for the fourth time in five years.
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| Members of the security collect tennis balls thrown by FC Basel supporters on the pitch Photo: Reuters |
A Swiss TV company arranged to have kickoff moved up to 12:45 p.m. to ensure the match would be finished in time for the 3 p.m. start of the ATP Basel tennis tournament between local boy Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
To express that displeasure and attempt to delay the match into overlapping with the tennis final, they hurled a massive amount of tennis balls on the pitch shortly after the match began.
With the pitch almost covered in tennis balls, the referee had no choice but to send the players back to the dressing rooms.
But as soon as they were cleared by stewards and security staff, the crafty fans began to rain a second wave of balls on to the pitch - forcing a further delay at the Sportanlage Gersag Stadium.
In the end, Basel delighted their supporters by coming up with an injury-time equalizer that saw them rescue a point to remain top of the league - while in the tennis, Federer beat Djokovic to win the title in front of his hometown crowd for the fourth time in five years.
Also see:
