German referee attacked at home after proposing to boyfriend at Bundesliga match
Pascal Kaiser was assaulted by three men at his residence in Cologne, suffering a black eye, days after his public marriage proposal went viral.
11 min ago
German amateur referee Pascal Kaiser was violently attacked at his home in Cologne on Saturday night into Sunday, more than a week after proposing to his boyfriend during a Bundesliga match.
Three men ambushed Kaiser in his garden and assaulted him physically, leaving him with a black eye. Kaiser believes the attack was directly linked to his public marriage proposal, which had circulated widely on social media.
The proposal took place during the interval of a Bundesliga match between FC Köln and Wolfsburg at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, in front of approximately 50,000 spectators. Kaiser asked his partner, Moritz, to marry him. The gesture became widely shared online and was regarded as a symbol of the fight against homophobia in football.
Prior to the assault, Kaiser's home address had been shared online accompanied by direct threats, according to reports on social media. On the day before the attack, Kaiser contacted police and reported receiving explicit messages that mentioned his residence. Authorities told him there was no immediate danger.
Approximately 20 minutes after leaving the police station, Kaiser was attacked when he went into his garden. He sustained injuries to his face during the assault.
Kaiser, who also works as an activist against homophobia, has stated that he has no doubt the attack was motivated by homophobia and was a punishment for the public act of love.