Admittedly, this week has been quite a significant one for drone news
With recent events at Gatwick airport in mind, it’s understandable that news of a drone being flown over a German top flight football club’s training ground hasn’t made quite as many headlines on these shores as it normally would do.
This, though, has been pretty big news in Germany.
During Hoffenheim’s final training session ahead of their midweek Bundesliga match away at Werder Bremen, a drone was spotted in the sky. The club later confirmed that a suspected pilot had been located and that the matter had been handed over to police.
Since then, in an incredible development, Werder Bremen have admitted that they were responsible for flying the drone. An official statement from the club explained that a member of club staff had piloted the drone, with general manager Frank Baumann apologising on the club’s behalf and taking full responsibility.
‘Werder Bremen briefly brought a drone into action last Tuesday during TSG Hoffenheim’s training,’ the statement read.
‘This is the result of a conversation between Werder CEO Baumann, head coach [Florian] Kohfeldt and employees of the analysis department.’
Baumann was later quoted as saying: “We’ve discussed this internally, and I accept responsibility for it.
“If those events at Hoffenheim led to a certain insecurity on the training pitch, I would like to apologise for it.”
As is the case in the UK, the flying of drones above crowds of people is prohibited in Germany. Despite this, Baumann insisted that the club had not done anything illegal.
“A drone was flown for a short period, but didn’t fly over the pitch their team was training on. There was no threat. Everything has been resolved with Hoffenheim.
“We have done nothing illegal. That would go against our club principles. We apologise to Hoffenheim if the incident has unnerved them. This is all we have to say on the matter.”
