Podolski in trouble over pyrotechnics, as  Kross rejects farewell offer

 

Desk Editor I Tuesday, October 22, 2024

 

COLOGNE – The 2014 World Cup champion Lukas Podolski could receive a fine from the city of Cologne for setting off pyrotechnics during his farewell match on October 10 just as his colleague, Toni Kross has turned down offer for a farewell  match.  

“We’ve wrote a report for infringement of the law. It’s on its way to the city administration,” a police spokesperson told dpa on Tuesday.

Following his farewell in the stadium of his former club Cologne, Podolski celebrated with the fans while holding a flare in his hand.

The moment was shown live on television and pictures of it were also posted on social media. The use of pyrotechnics in German stadiums is prohibited, but only constitutes a criminal offence if it endangers or injures other people. According to police investigations, this was not the case.

The city of Cologne is now responsible for further action and determining a fine.

Podolski joined Cologne’s youth academy in 1995 and played for the professional team from 2003 to 2006, and then again between 2009 and 2012. He’s currently under contract at his Polish home town team Gornik Zabrze June 2025.

Meanwhile , former Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos is not interested in having a farewell match organized especially for him following his retirement.

“I had my farewell game here in Madrid, which was still a league game, so it wasn’t a game organized for me. But somehow it felt like one, at least what the fans made of it,” Kroos told the ran.de news portal in an interview published on Tuesday.

“But organizing another farewell game for me now, I’m not the type of person who wants everyone to come just for me or for me to be the centre of attention again,” he added.

Kroos ended his career after this summer’s Euro 2024 in Germany. The national team recently organized a farewell ceremony for retired players ahead of the Nations League game against the Netherlands in Munich, but Kroos was not in attendance due to a appointment at his youth academy.

The midfielder moved to Real Madrid from Bayern Munich in 2014, winning the Champions League five times with the club, and even after the end of his career he decided to stay in Spain.

Asked about what it would take for him to return to Germany, Kroos said: “Certain things that probably won’t happen. For example, the weather needs to get better. That will be difficult, I think.

“In the end it’s a family decision, I don’t make it alone. I have a wife, I have three children and ultimately it’s a feel-good decision. I believe that we would also feel at home in Germany, but there are currently few reasons why we should leave.”