The German U17 European champions were racially attacked on their way to winning the title in Hungary. Joti Chatzialexiou, sporting director of the national teams, said this in an interview published on the DFB website on Wednesday.
“In addition to the pitch – or rather on the internet – there were unfortunately also unfortunate circumstances. There was a strong accumulation of racist comments under individual postings on our social media channels. Our boys also saw them, which kept them very busy,” said the official.
The soccer juniors beat France 5-4 on penalties last Friday and celebrated Germany’s second U17 European Championship title after the triumph in 2009. The team jointly decided not to give any room to distractions during the course of the tournament, and as a result they have come together even more closely as a team,” explained Chatzialexiou. He called the players “great role models already at their young age. I’m very proud of that, I’ll always be there for them and have their backs.”
One never tires of “standing up for our values,” said Chatzialexiou, “We will continue to resolutely oppose racism, discrimination, hate and hate speech at all levels. With our teams, we stand for diversity and peaceful coexistence. Anyone who doesn’t understand that has no place in our entire football family.” (dpa)
Source: Tagesspiegel
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