Marco Rose denounces racist attacks on Benjamin Henrichs, similar to those received by Nico Williams
LEIPZIG (GERMANY), 7 Apr. (dpa/EP) –
The coach of RB Leipzig, Marco Rose, has demanded this Friday a tougher State intervention against incitement to hate on the Internet after the racist attacks suffered by his team’s defender Benjamin Henrichs, similar to those also received by the Spanish Nico Williams , Athletic Club striker.
“I have the impression that more rigorous punishments should be imposed, that the State should reflect on it. Simply taking these people out of circulation for a few days,” Rose said at a press conference.
“Locking them up for a few days, then possibly it would make one or two of them think about behaving like a normal, social person,” added the Leipzig coach, alluding to those who had insulted Benjamin Henrichs.
Henrichs denounced this Thursday that he had been the target of numerous racist and derogatory attacks after his team’s recent victory against Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals of the German Cup.
“We won 2-0 in the Cup against Dortmund and I’m going to show you what my DMs (private messages) look like after a victory like that in the Cup. Have fun,” Henrichs said in a video posted on the TikTok social network.
In the same video, Henrichs offered screenshots of private messages, in which both he and his family were subjected to insults. Some of them expressed his desire for the player to get injured. “We live in a society where anyone can spread hate and racism on the internet,” wrote the 26-year-old German player.
According to information from the dpa news agency, Henrichs often receives hate messages, but never as intensely as after that match against Dortmund. Although he is considering taking legal action, he does not want to comment further publicly on the matter.
In this sense, the agency representing the Spanish Nico Williams, and “in a consensual manner” with the ‘león’ striker himself, asked last Wednesday to “eradicate” from social networks “insults and disrespect” because “they do not anything goes”.
Williams and his agency made this decision after deactivating their digital profiles due to the “pressure” caused by such racist insults, after Athletic was eliminated by Osasuna in the Copa del Rey semifinals.