Germany's men's Olympic hockey team is facing a bill for damages of 780 thousand dollars after the party they held on a cruise ship to celebrate their London 2012 gold medals got out of hand.
After their 2-1 win over Holland saw them retain the Olympic title they won in Beijing, the Germans let off steam on the MS Deutschland in London's West India Quay on August 11th in a party organised by a Berlin-based events firm.
The players are reported to have drained all the alcohol available onboard and pictures in the German media show the squad dousing each other with champagne while downing glasses of beer and smoking cigars.
Glass was broken during the party and the Germany Hockey Association apologised to the ship's captain immediately afterwards, saying they would pick up the tab - until the bill grew to more than three quarters of a million dollars.
The ship's operators say besides the damage it also costs 100 thousand dollars for each day the ship is out of service.
Now the German Hockey Association is bracing itself for the bill with questions being asked whether the body is legally responsible for the actions of its members.
