That's why Göring-Eckardt deleted the post about the DFB team
"This team is really great", Katrin Göring-Eckardt began a post on platform X about the German football national team. However, the Green politician then went on to speak about the skin color of the players, which brought her a lot of criticism. She now explains the background.
Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt explained why she deleted a controversial post on platform X about the German national team's victory over Hungary. "What led me to delete the tweet were people who have experienced racism themselves and said: This is going in the wrong direction," the Green politician told "Spiegel". "These were people who didn't want to accuse me of racism, they just found the tone wrong."
Göring-Eckart had recently written on X: "This team is really great. Imagine if there were only white German players." This comment brought criticism, including from the coalition partner FDP. For example, the deputy FDP leader Wolfgang Kubicki wrote on X: "I find it really worrying when people in Germany are evaluated based on their skin color. The colleague should quickly delete this text."
In conversation with "Spiegel", Göring-Eckart now explained that she had seen the ARD football documentary "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" beforehand and was shocked by a survey that showed that 21% of Germans wanted more white football players in the national team. "I was sure that most people knew this context," she said.
She finds that the national team is "really good, just as it is", she continued. Skin color should never and nowhere play a role. "By the way, whether the penalty goes in or not." She admitted critically that politicians often say that racism and hatred have no place in society. "But unfortunately, racism and hatred do have a place among us. Many people, who don't realize it, are confronted with this every day and it plays a role for them."
Despite the praise for the German national soccer team, Katrin Göring-Eckart's comment about the team's composition on X sparked controversy, with the DFB and the FDP expressing concerns about racism. Göring-Eckart, who had previously praised the team, later clarified that she had been inspired by a documentary showcasing racial biases in German soccer, and she emphasized the importance of valuing the team's talent and achievement, irrespective of skin color.
