Real Madrid Banned from Wearing Bwin Jerseys in Munich, Bayern Munchen Apologizes

Perennial soccer power Bayern Munchen officially apologized to Spanish club Real Madrid for their government’s authorities disallowing the visitors to wear their Bwin-sponsored football strips during Friday night’s friendly in Germany.  

Under current German gambling laws, advertising for foreign-owned online gambling sites is forbidden and Real Madrid was warned not to wear this jersey adornment, despite the fact that Austria-based Bwin is a legal provider of online sportsbook services in Europe under European Union law. Munich authorities had even threatened to levy a €50,000 fine on Real should they have chosen not to comply.  

“I very much regret this and would like to apologize to Real,” stated Bayern Munchen club chairman Karl-Heinz Remmenigge. “We are proud that the largest football team in the world wants to play on this occasion. FC Bayern is known throughout the world for its hospitality. Unfortunately, we cannot be as hospitable as we would like to be. The law orders our opponent to play without their original shirt.”  

The FC Bayern-Real Madrid match was played in honor of Franz Beckenbauer, the former German great who was named second greatest European player of the 20th century by the IFFHS in 1999.  

At present, only state-owned monopoly companies are allowed to provide casinos, poker and online sportsbooks in Germany. The German sportsbook Oddset recently achieved some infamy when their unfair odds offered to punters during the World Cup were revealed