Four Bundesliga players could face sanctions from the German Football Federation (DFB) after protesting against racism during the games last weekend.
Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi (Borussia Dortmund) and Weston McKennie (Schalke) showed messages asking for justice for George Floyd, the black man who died last week at the hands of a white police officer in the United States.
For his part, Marcus Thuram (Borussia Moenchengladbach) knelt down to celebrate a gol, a statement the DFB called “open to interpretation” after this gesture has become popular to remember Floyd.
The DFB control committee will study possible sanctions against the four footballers. “Part of those analyzes is to determine if soccer fields, in the middle of a game, are the right place for these actions,” explained DFB vice president Rainer Koch.
“The party itself must remain free of political statements or messages of any kind. Fair and competitive play on the field should be the focus. Of course, there are opportunities before and after the game for this kind of thing, “argued the manager.
The DFB emphasized that its president, Fritz Keller, “has great respect and understanding for the actions of the players.” “It is intolerable that people are discriminated against because of the color of their skin. From a moral point of view, I fully understand the actions of these players. There is no one who is not moved by what happened in the United States,” said the person in charge of the Germanic organism.