Kimmich denounces ARD survey as fully racist.
A heated issue has popped up before the Euros. An ARD poll found that one out of five Germans wants more white players on the German team. Joshua Kimmich, a German football champ, was not impressed by this finding.
Football pros who have been raised in the sport know this idea is a load of rubbish. Football symbolizes how numerous nations, different skin colors, diverse religions can join together. That's why it's like that in our team. I'd miss certain players a lot if they weren't here. This is super racist and has no place in our locker room, said Kimmich at the Germany team's European Championship base in Herzogenaurach. Nadelsmann's provisional 27-player lineup for the national team has several players of migrant descent.
"It's unbelievable to even ask this question"
With a home Euro Championship on the horizon, it's whacky to even question this. It's all about uniting the entire nation. It's all about accomplishing something remarkable together. His teammates and Kimmich, a 29-year-old summering with Bayern Munich, are trying to win over the entirety of Germany.
Reading through the poll results, 65% of those surveyed didn't agree or disagreed with the idea, meaning they found no validity in the statement "I'm fine with plenty of footballers with migrant roots in the German squad." Two-thirds of the Germans questioned found it great that the German squad has a diverse set of football players.
Infratest dimap conducted the study for the TV documentary "Harmony and Justice and Diversity." They sampled 1304 electors, a mix of phone calls and online interviews. The authors of the documentary "Sportschau" came across racist comments regarding the national team. To gauge if this was a widespread or an individual opinion, WDR commissioned the study.
The ARD chose to leak the results based on political loyalties. Those who said "I prefer more white players in the Germany team" included lots of right-wing AfD members (47%). "I like it more if more musicians with white skin play in the Germany national team" was a common phrase amongst Left Party supporters (38%). 49% of AfD followers disagreed with the sentiment "I'm into having more footballers of migrant background on the team." The people who thought more white players should be in the team were mainly AfD followers (47%) and Left Party supporters (38%).
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Joshua Kimmich expressed his disapproval towards the ARD poll results, stating that the idea of preferring more white players on the German national soccer team is utterly racist and has no place in their locker room. Despite the controversial poll, DFB's provisional squad for the European Football Championship 2024 includes several players with migrant backgrounds.
