Football news - RB Leipzig apologise after ejecting Japanese fans over coronavirus fears

Twitter user Takeshi Yamakodo claimed on the social networking site that a group of Japanese fans were made to leave the stadium 15 minutes into the weekend's Bundesliga game against Bayer Leverkusen.

Leipzig have taken swift action, explaining that the outbreak of coronavirus has forced them to run more stringent security checks, but promised to make amends to the group of Japanese fans.

"In accordance with recommendations from the Robert-Koch-Institute (General Principles of Risk Assessment and Recommendations for Course of Action at Large-Scale Events), the ground's security personnel had been instructed to intensify checks regarding the admission of certain groups due to potential risk," a club statement read.

"Unfortunately, in this instance, amidst the great uncertainty surrounding this topic, by which we are currently also affected, a mistake was made on our part with respect to our Japanese guests.

"In light of this mistake, we would like to extend our apologies. We are already trying to get in contact with the fans in question to invite them to our next home game to try and make amends for the incident.

"As for our handling of the coronavirus issue, we will continue to work thoroughly and on a daily basis with the authorities in order to try and reach the best possible solution for all of our guests."