The European Football Championship suddenly gets really ugly
The first days of the Football-EM are diverse, beautiful, peaceful. The Scots are the embodiment of the big party, celebrating Europe as a guest in Germany. But these images are being pushed to the background. Suddenly, it's ugly.
In the autumn of the previous year, tournament director Philipp Lahm shared his vision for the Football-EM. He had decreed that the Football-EM represented a turning point in society. He wished for the important values of the continent to be reinforced: Democracy, Freedom, Diversity, Tolerance, Integration. In the first days of the EM, he could observe his wish fulfilled. There were many colorful images. The Scots, who received love from all sides, became the epitome of this. But then darker clouds gathered. And now, the tournament is firmly in the grip of political debates. It's about right-wing extremism, about fascism, about nationalism. The fractured nature of Europe is also evident on the largest continental sports stage. This is not surprising.
If anyone still wants to claim that sport is not political, they will have this naivety forcefully rammed into their ears in these days. No one is talking about the thrilling football match between Austria and Turkey anymore, which goalkeeper Mert Günok decided for Turkey with a sensational performance. The emotional 2:1 victory over Ralf Rangnick's team in the round of 16 is now the overriding theme, as Merih Demiral, with his double goal, showed the wolf's salute to the right-wing extremists in the country. It was the ugliest game of the EM. Hecklers emerged.
Even before the game, some Austrian fans were singing the right-wing extremist Sylt-Hit of the season. On the North Sea island, they had transformed "L'Amour toujours" by DJ Gigi D'Agostino into the racist slogan "Germany for the Germans, foreigners out!" The Austrians copied this at the EM. This was not the first time that the fans from the Alpine Republic caused unease. Already in the 3:1 against Poland, "Defend Europe", a slogan of the Identitarian Movement, was read on a banner in the stadium.
The European Championship is teetering on the unstable ground of our society, which has lost its balance at the edges. The Left is wavering. The Right is growing massively stronger. The Center is losing power and above all sovereignty. The gray tones in the debates are disappearing. It's all black and white. Because in Germany, there was great indignation after the wolf's salute, the Turkish ambassador was summoned and the German ambassador in Ankara. Now, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is announcing his attendance at the quarter-final in Berlin. One can already imagine how heated the atmosphere in the capital will be at the weekend. Again, it's black and white.
The Colorful is Threatened with Disappearance
It's not about singular events anymore, it's about the big picture. About Europe, about its values. About the future. And it's all being played out on the field. The stadium visit is long since free of ideology, and German fans can wear as many pink jerseys as they like and invoke diversity all they want. At the last fan march in Dortmund, a men's trio spoke of every deportation being a good deportation. They wore the white Germany jersey.
Before the tournament, an ARD survey caused quite a stir. 21% of the respondents wished that there were more players with fair skin for the German team. Are they displeased that Jamal Musiala enchants the country with his dribblings? That Antonio Rudiger is celebrated as a monster for his headers?
Defensive chief Rudiger has become that player in the German team who best illustrates the conflict line of open society with nationalists. When he once raised his index finger and greeted Ramadan, he was attacked as an Islamist in right-wing circles. The former "Bild" editor Julian Reichelt launched a campaign against Rudiger, who reacted with a complaint. The world is in a constant ecstasy. And that's nothing new in football. With the extreme swings of emotions, fans are well-acquainted. But it's about joy and frustration, anger and rage. Hate in certain groups also. But football was not the stage for the most heated ideological confrontations.
This EM was colorful and beautiful. It was great, a peaceful celebration of nations. Europe as a guest among friends. Now it's Sylt, migration, right-wing. Of course not in large numbers. In the stands, trains and buses, groups still sit together, laugh and make fun of each other. But it's not the many who are noticed, but the loud ones. And they are becoming more and more numerous and see the time has come to no longer hide. The Austrians roared out their nationalist views like others before them. Everywhere in the country, videos of folk festivals appeared where people sang songs against foreigners and celebrated. At Public Viewings, the Hitler salute was shown again and again. In alarmingly large parts of the Federal Republic, racism is accepted.
"Kill the Serbs"
D'Agostino's song was banned at the EM. It has not disappeared. When the Hungarian fans marched to the game against the Germans, they sang the song and held up a "Free Gigi" poster. During the match between Italy and Spain, groups sang the song in the stadium. It was unclear who these groups belonged to. Then Austria against Turkey - and more. Albania's striker Mirlind Daku sang anti-Macedonian and -Serbian songs. Some Albanians also caused great indignation by calling out "Kill the Serbs" together with Croats. Some Serbians in turn presented a map of the country including the since 2008 independent Kosovo. Everything suddenly appeared. The hatred, the hate.
In social networks, it went particularly high after the games of the Turks. In Dortmund, carnivals took place after the first two games, causing a traffic jam in the city center. Most of it went peacefully, friendly. But the extremes trolled each other, let loose, just hated. When a fan mob makes its way to the stadium, it now needs the word "Euphoria" added, otherwise negative connotations are immediately attached. Unlike, for example, the Dutch, who set the country in a frenzy with their "left, right"-clapping. On German folk festivals, brass bands even play the song and dance on the wooden floor.
Rangnick spoke out against racists in a notable TV interview. French stars also used the power of their brand to make emotional appeals for France not to be handed over to the far-right. In the parliamentary elections, this did not prevent the Rassemblement National, led by their charismatic figurehead Marine Le Pen, from becoming the strongest force. Before the upcoming runoff election, the country is sorting itself out, forming alliances against the far-right. In Belgium, they have already taken control, and in the Netherlands, where the sharpest migration law of the EU is expected to be enacted in the future. But these are no longer the problems of others. The AfD is the second strongest force here. And even Le Pen and Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni are considered too extreme in their political views. At the EU level, a break was made with the AfD.
The AfD held their federal party conference in Essen over the past weekend. There were demonstrations, and there were also violent clashes with the police, who had to protect the party conference. On Saturday evening, the German national team played in Dortmund. It was a colorful festival in Dortmund. Many AfD politicians looked away; they can no longer identify with the team, which plays in pink jerseys. Controversial figure Maximilian Krah calls the DFB team a "Foreign Legion." No more rejection can be shown. No more identification either. The EM is no longer colorful, unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly hateful, brown. Philipp Lahm can be saddened by this. In some moments of this tournament, Europe is only united in the rejection of the Foreigner.
In light of these divisive issues, the tournament director, Philipp Lahm, plans to address the issue of racism at the European Football Championship 2024. He aims to ensure that the event serves as a platform to promote values such as democracy, freedom, diversity, tolerance, and integration, as he believes that sport should not be separate from politics.
Unfortunately, such incidents have already occurred at the 2024 precursor event, with some fans singing right-wing extremist slogans and displaying racist banners at matches. These incidents highlight the ongoing struggle against right-wing extremism and racism in European football, which threatens to overshadow the beauty and diversity of the event.
