PrintOctober 9, 2007
Germany roiled by refusal of soccer match in Israel
The Associated Press reports that an outcry has erupted in Germany over the refusal of dual citizenship member of a German soccer team to play a match in Israel. Both his coach and the soccer federation found nothing wrong with his refusal, sparking public controversy.
Ashkan Dejagah was born in Iran and came to Germany as a child. He has been shooting off his mouth to some German papers and saying some rather startling things, especially considering recent German history.
Berlin's daily tabloid B-Z quoted him as saying: "I have more Iranian than German blood in my veins. I am doing it out of respect. After all, my parents are Iranian."
Nothing like reminding the Germans about the importance of blood percentages and ethnicity and Jew-hatred.
He has also contradicted the soccer association's stated reason for allowing him to boycott Israel.
"Everybody knows I am a German-Iranian," the midfielder told the top-selling Bild, adding that his decision to withdraw from the game with Israel had "political reasons".
Contrast this with the soccer association:
In a statement posted on its Web site, the association said it accepted the player's "personal reasons" not to participate in the game.
"I have accepted the coach's decision, because he explained to me that the player has personal reasons for his decision," association President Theo Zwanziger said in the statement.
The fact that both the coach and soccer association found it acceptable to tolerate an ethnic hatred-based refusal to play a match speaks volumes about the state of contemporary Germany and probably much of Europe. So far, the loudest vboices raised in protest seem to be Jewish groups. This too is not encouraging.
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