Boar draw – four-legged fans run amok on German pitch

A German fifth division match has had to be called off after a pitch invasion by a group of wild boars left the surface in an unplayable condition.

Local officials said on Friday that wild boar had entered Dresden Borea’s Jaegerpark (Hunter Park) stadium overnight, derailing Saturday’s kickoff against Lokomotive Leipzig.

The boars left such big holes in the playing surface as they scavenged for food that there is no way the match in German’s fifth tier could be played.

This is the second time Liepzig, who lost the 1987 European Cup Winners Cup to Ajax, have had to call off a league game after last month’s match against FC Sachsen was washed out due to flooding the night before the game.

“We’re accustomed to problems in the cold months – ice, sudden onset of winter and so on,” said Lokomotive chairman Steffen Kubald on the club’s website.

“But this is the second time something unusual has happened and the schedule leaves us with no room.”

Coach Achim Steffens added: “We are in the middle of game preparation.

“Everything is designed around Saturday, you tinker with the details, the last training sessions went well and then you meet this new blow in the face.”

Of the four scheduled league games so far in their league, Lokomotive have had to call off two and face league leaders Zwickau next Friday.

Wild boar, a species of pig and the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, are native across much of northern and central Europe.