Racism Rears its Ugly Head in Germany

There’s some depressing news out of Germany where a couple of instances of fan racism are a cause for concern. In an amateur reserve game between Hansa Rostock and Schalke 04, Rostock fans hurled racial abuse at German international striker Gerald Asamoah, who was born in Ghana.

The club in Rostock was fined $25,000 and ordered to play a reserve game in an empty stadium. This punishment was deemed strong enough by Theo Zwanziger. The president of the German Football Federation (DFB) has said that he is still eager for an international friendly between Germany and Georgia to take place in Rostock in early October.

Meanwhile, the referee in Saturday’s Bundesliga match between Alemannia Aachen and Borussia Moenchengladbach (try spelling that backward and forward) threatened to suspend the match at halftime if Achen fans didn’t stop racially taunting Moenchengladbach’s foreign-born players. The DFB is said to be investigating the alleged incidents.

Stories about racism in football always depress us. The game is truly global these days and in our opinion having players like Asamoah on the German national team is something worth celebrating. While FIFA and others talk a tough game about ridding the sport of racism, the reality is that fans and clubs are all too often not punished for their ignorant actions. Hopefully the German federation will be an exception to the rule by nipping this in the bud right now with harsh sanctions and increased fan education.

While it has been said a million times before, there’s no room in football for racism.

Category: Bundesliga

Tags: Alemannia Aachen, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Bundesliga, Gerald Asamoah, Germany, Hansa Rostock, Schalke 04

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