Schweinsteiger's Ivory Coast comments spark racism debate
Key takeaways
- The 2014 World Cup winner said Germany needed to be "prepared for it to be unpredictable at times."
- "In the past, Black people of African heritage were stigmatized as uncivilized ('wild'), different ('unorthodox') and potentially dangerous ('unpredictable')."
- "We learn such stereotypes because we have grown up in a society with stereotypes," he said.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Bastian Schweinsteiger's TV analysis of Germany's World Cup opponents Ivory Coast appeared to draw on racist stereotypes. For some observers, the comments are evidence that racist tropes are still common in football.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Ful GBastian Schweinsteiger's TV analysis of Germany's World Cup opponents Ivory Coast appeared to draw on racist tropes.Image: Nordphoto/Bratic/IMAGOAdvertisement Former German international footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger has been accused of employing racist stereotypes in his analysis of Germany's most recent World Cup opponents, Ivory Coast, at the weekend.
Ahead of the Group E clash in Toronto, which Germany won 2-1, Schweinsteiger said in his role as a pundit for German public broadcaster ARD that the Ivorians played "African football" which he characterized as "a bit unorthodox sometimes, a bit wild, not quite as tactical."