Bundesliga matches were suspended after goals were hit by a large object

The Bundesliga match between Union Berlin and Bochum was stopped for almost half an hour after a player from the team was hit by an object thrown from the crowd.

Patrick Drewes was hit by what appeared to be a light knock as he prepared to score in the second half of the 1-1 draw between the two sides at Union’s Stadion An der Alten Forsteri on Saturday.

The game was halted while Drewes received medical treatment before referee Martin Petersen ordered both players to the dressing room.

The game restarts, but no one is trying to drink. I have never seen anything like it.

— VfL Bochum 1848 (@VfLBochum1848EN) December 14, 2024

The two teams eventually returned to the pitch but Drewes was not to go on, Bochum were forced to put Philipp Hofmann on goal as they had already used all their substitutes.

When play resumed, neither team attempted to win the game and opted to pass the ball between them to run out the clock.

Hofmann said after the game that all the players had “agreed not to play”, and said the incident was “not good at all”.

Ilya #Kenzi after #FCUBOC:

In our opinion, the player should have stopped the game. That did not happen. We announced that we will end the game in protest. We will appeal on Monday. pic.twitter.com/uspodGQ0EI

— VfL Bochum 1848 (@VfLBochum1848EN) December 15, 2024

A Union spokesman said the person who threw the object “has been identified and handed over to the police”, while the club’s sporting director, Horst Heldt, added: “It would be a mistake to blame the whole club or the fans for the actions of one person.”

Ilja Kaenzig, Bochum’s general manager, said the team would appeal against the decision not to abandon the game, and said they should have been awarded all three points after being abandoned “due to a problem with the game”.