Bayern sorry for tweet evoking the Holocaust

BERLIN • Hours before Wednes- day's Champions League clash at home with Juventus, Bayern Munich had to apologise after a post on their Twitter account was misinterpreted as having links to a Nazi-era concentration camp.

The post had an image of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, their Allianz Arena stadium and the end of a train track under the text "Here is the end" written in Italian.

It was intended to jokingly suggest the Italian team's exit from the competition. But some users pointed out the train track image was reminiscent of the infamous picture of railway lines leading to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during the Holocaust.

The Bundesliga leaders quickly posted an apology. "Unfortunately, our matchday graphic has been misunderstood to represent historic events, something which was never intended," read the statement. "If we have hurt the feelings of Juventus fans in particular or any other users as a result, we sincerely apologise."

There was a furore in Spain and the Netherlands too, after fans of Dutch club PSV were filmed humiliating beggars in the centre of Madrid by throwing coins at them and goading the women into doing press-ups before their Champions League match with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

The fans were caught on camera by Pablo Vande Rusten and Ignacio Camacho, students at the UAM-El Pais journalism school, taunting the women and asking them to kneel in exchange for money.

PSV director Toon Gerbrands described the fans' behaviour as "scandalous", adding: "The actions of a few individuals are damaging the reputation of the whole group."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE GUARDIAN

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 18, 2016, with the headline Bayern sorry for tweet evoking the Holocaust. Subscribe