Bayern Munich have accepted an apology from The Sun newspaper, which will now be allowed to send reporters to Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Manchester United at the Allianz Arena.
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Bayern revoked accreditations for the quarterfinal second-leg tie for both The Sun and the Daily Mirror as a response to their headlines following the 1-1 first-leg draw at Old Trafford last week.
The club said that the British newspapers had “personally insulted” Bastian Schweinsteiger with their postmatch headlines.
In response to the midfielder first scoring his side’s equaliser and then being sent off, the Daily Mirror ran the headline: “You Dirty Schwein,” while The Sun’s online edition went for: “You Schwein.”
Bayern condemned the headlines and said they were “without respect, discriminatory and personally insulting.”
However, the club’s media director Marcus Hoerwick said that should the newspapers apologise, then they could still receive accreditation for the second leg.
On Saturday, The Sun issued an apology, which read: “Sorry, Bastian.”
The newspaper claimed that “it was never our intention to embarrass Bastian or Bayern Munich” and that the headline had been “removed after one hour and never appeared in any [printed] editions of The Sun.”
As a result, Bayern announced on Sunday that they had accepted the apology and so journalists covering the Champions League clash for The Sun will now receive accreditation.
“The Sun has, also in appropriate size, apologised. Thus, this is history for us now,” Bayern media director Marcus Hoerwick was quoted as saying by Bild.
The Daily Mirror has so far yet to issue an apology.