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A parachutist with 'Kick Out Oil' and 'Greenpeace' written on the back of his parachute flew into the Allianz stadium in Munich before Germany's Euro 2020 opener against France on Tuesday, June 15, briefly delaying the match and appearing to injure at least one person before landing.
Two German players approached the man before security officials escorted him off the pitch.
A camera operator appeared to have been injured in the incident, but walked away by himself with medics.
Greenpeace Germany tweeted an apology, in part saying 'due to a technical fault, a forced emergency landing was endangered and one person was apparently injured as a result. We hope everyone is fine.'
'This protest was never intended to disrupt the game or injure people.'
Europe's soccer body UEFA stated that the incident caused several injuries.
Video: Kind courtesy Euro 2020/Twitter
'This inconsiderate act -- which could have had very serious consequences for a huge number of people attending -- caused injuries to several people attending the game who are now in hospital and law authorities will take the necessary action,' UEFA said in a statement.
'UEFA and its partners are fully committed to a sustainable EURO 2020 tournament and many initiatives have been implemented to offset carbon emissions.
'The staging of the match was fortunately not impacted by such a reckless and dangerous action, but several people were injured nonetheless.'
Debris fell on to the pitch and into the stands when the parachutist flew into the wiring of an overhead camera that was assigned to provide pictures of the match.
The parachutist came in at a steep angle and appeared to clip a cable when entering the stadium as he struggled to gain control before landing heavily at the far end of the pitch where players were waiting to start the Group F match.
Greenpeace Germany earlier tweeted: 'Hey @Volkswagen, time to kick out oil! #Greenpeace activists protest against the games' sponsor at the #FRAGER-match and demand: stop selling climate-damaging diesel and petrol cars! #EURO2020'