German Soccer Team Punished After Abandoning Match Over Alleged Racist Abuse Of Captain

Teutonia Ottensen, a lower-level professional soccer team in Hamburg, Germany, has been punished after stopping a match to protest alleged racism directed at team captain Marcus Coffie.

With his team leading Bremer SV 2-1 in a fourth-division game over the weekend, Coffie, who is black, said he was racially abused by an opponent. Shortly thereafter Coffie and his teammates walked off the pitch and the game was abandoned before halftime.

The North German Soccer Federation announced on Monday that it had zero evidence of Coffie being racially abused and handed Bremer SV a 5-0 victory.

READ: GERMAN SOCCER MATCH CANCELED AFTER FAN THROWS ENTIRE BEER IN FACE OF REFEREE AT HALFTIME

The federation also questioned "whether when such an accusation justifies calling off a game or not continuing it," which led to criticism from Teutonia's camp.

Bremer SV is standing with the player being accused of tossing around racist insults directed at Coffie.

"It signals to all players who are confronted with racist insults on the soccer field that their options for dealing with the problem are limited to what the refereeing team can see," Teutonia said. "The questioning of whether an incident of this type is enough for a game to be abandoned not only borders on ignorance, but it also makes all the steps taken against racism so far look like measures that are only welcomed if they fit the prevailing circumstances of the club or association."

"The decision is not just an example of what is wrong in the sport, what is still wrong in our society," Teutonia's statement continued." 

If the match wasn't abandoned and Teutonia held on to win, Bremer SV would have been relegated from the division. Instead, with the newly awarded 5-0 victory, Bremer SV remains in Regionalliga.