What happened in Sinsheim on February 29, 2020, was a pivotal moment in German football.
A football game was twice stopped because of banners insulting the owner of a football club. In the end, the last 13 minutes were played out in protest with both sides exchanging possession until time was up. They were bizarre scenes, ones that will live long in the memory.
While hurling insults might be more common at a football ground than most places, it remains unacceptable. Insults remain insults and people are still people.
Such abuse also delegitimizes protests which are done right, because there are other ways to protest than insult or threaten someone. Many parts of German football's very socially active fan scene have demonstrated that time and again with the use of creative words or actions.
The form of protest against Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp on Saturday was problematic and Bayern, their staff and the referee deserve credit for acting against it. But the reason for it is an important part of this story, and one that shouldn't be lost.
The protest against Hopp is not against Hopp the person, but against what he stands for, namely an individual who has pumped money into a club, been granted an exemption from the 50+1 rule and in doing so has undermined many of the fundamentals which make German football great.
Fans in Germany, many of whom are club members and therefore have a say on how their clubs are run, absolutely have a right to protest events or developments that they feel are a threat to the way their football club or the sport generally is run.
A critical stance is fine and indeed to be encouraged more and more in the modern era, but there is no room for abuse. That's why the swift and strong response was a good thing. Solidarity against abuse is necessary.
For that to be true though, it must be true for all. Why is racist, homophobic or sexist abuse, which are much more grave than what happened in Sinsheim, not met with the same condemnation? Jordan Torunarigha or Antonio Rüdiger didn't get the benefit of games being interrupted or players running over to fans asking them to stop.
In these incidents, meaningless words and trendy hashtags have been used but very little action has followed. If solidarity against abuse is important to the Bundesliga, its clubs and its officials, then that must extend to all those who suffer abuse.