Racism debate before European Championship
The “shitty survey” shatters the DFB’s calm
By Sebastian Schneider, Herzogenaurach
03.06.2024, 07:28
It is the first controversy in the run-up to the European Championships at home: A survey reveals racism against German national football players. National coach Julian Nagelsmann is outraged, as is his vice-captain Joshua Kimmich. But their criticism does not fully hit the nail on the head.
The German national football team almost made it. They almost made it to the European Championships at home without any disruption, without any big drama, without any major political issues. Until last weekend: Since then, a survey has caused a stir, the results of which are shocking. 21 percent of those surveyed would find it better if the national team were “whiter.” 17 percent said they thought it was a shame that the DFB captain İlkay Gündoğan has Turkish roots.
It wasn’t just the results that upset national coach Julian Nagelsmann. “The question alone was insane,” he told the assembled journalists at the European Championship headquarters in Herzogenaurach. He hoped he would never have to read such a “shitty survey” again. Nagelsmann was shocked that such questions were being asked – and that people were even answering them.
Nagelsmann continued, saying he found it bizarre. People go on holiday to get to know other cultures. “And then other cultures come in here and we complain about it,” he explained. “I don’t have to go on holiday, I can always stay where I am.” On the contrary: It’s nice to get to know other cultures and work together on something. “Like in football: becoming European champions together, for example, that’s a great thing.”
Three tournaments, one lesson
Instead of Manuel Neuer, who will play against Ukraine in the evening after exactly 550 days (8.45 p.m./ARD and in the ntv.de live ticker) will make his DFB comeback, another topic now dominates the debate. Perhaps also because there has not been much controversy surrounding the DFB team so far. The non-nomination of the veteran heroes Leon Goretzka and Mats Hummels did not trigger a major storm of debate. Otherwise, all the news that came out of the training camp in Blankenhain, Thuringia, was frighteningly positive.
That was intentional. After the three botched tournaments, everything should be different this time: no more one-love armbands, no one holding their tongues. It should be the big lesson from the communication chaos in Qatar. The association is dealing with the political issues, the players should no longer be asked to make any statements. They should concentrate on making the home European Championship a success. Anyone who wants to speak out can continue to do so. So far, that has worked well – for example when it came to the pink away jersey.
This is exactly what went wrong before other tournaments. Before the World Cup in Russia in 2018, a photo of Mesut Özil and İlkay Gündoğan with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan caused a stir. The last European Championship in 2021, which was held across the entire continent, was accompanied by corona debates. And the 2022 desert World Cup in Qatar was so politically explosive that the sporting aspect took a back seat.
“Absurd to ask such a question”
Now the survey. Joshua Kimmich was asked about it on Saturday. The Bayern star also made a remarkable statement. “Anyone who grew up in football knows that this is absolute nonsense,” he said. He would “miss many players very much if they weren’t here.” Something like that was “absolutely racist.” It was “absurd to ask such a question,” he said, and it was “counterproductive.” For the DFB team, the home European Championships were about “uniting the whole country and achieving something together.” They wanted to “get everyone in Germany behind us.”
Kimmich understandably represents the view of a footballer who is preparing for what will hopefully be a thrilling major event and therefore wants peace and quiet. Nevertheless, as understandable as the criticism of the question and its wording is, the biggest problem is the result – racism. And, as sad as that is, the results are not really surprising. After their triumph last winter, the U17 world champions were the target of racist hostility, and before that the talented U21s. Football is not the only one with this problem: The Mitte study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation According to this, one in twelve Germans has a right-wing extremist worldview.
In addition, the question was not plucked out of thin air. The context is provided by an ARD documentary. In “Unity and Justice and Diversity”, journalist Philipp Awounou tries to trace how the national team became more and more multicultural after the “summer fairytale”. There, Awounou is confronted with the very statement that the national team should be “whiter” again. The WDR explained that they wanted to know how widespread this attitude is among the population. It is encouraging that 66 percent think it is good that many national players have a migrant background.
The survey overshadows the thoughtful rest of the documentary. The almost 45 minutes are full of difficult questions and some painful moments. Former national player Gerald Asamoah talks about hostility in the 1990s, former footballer Tugbal Tekkal tells how football gave her access to the majority society, and current national player Jonathan Tah reports on his own experiences of racism.
The question is what will come out of the debate. There are less than two weeks until the start of the European Championships at home. It was not a big issue in the team, Kimmich said on Saturday. The next issue is just around the corner anyway. In the evening, things will get political again in Nuremberg’s Max-Morlock Stadium when the DFB team meets Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced his visit. Not only that: the match is the first test since the euphoric March internationals with victories against France and the Netherlands. If the DFB team loses, there could soon be sporting disturbances again.