Jurgen Klopp has labelled the debate over whether his Germany team are 'German enough' or 'white enough' as idiocy. The former Liverpool boss refused to engage in the conversation and suggested there is no reason to pay attention to the people starting it.
Klopp dismisses far-right criticism
Klopp, 59, signed a four-year deal as Germany boss over the summer and is now conducting his first camp in charge of the team. He has got off to a slow start with Die Mannschaft drawing with the Netherlands and losing to Greece during his spell in charge so far.
The defeat on Sunday has seen a number of far-right politicians attack the team for the few white players included. In one post, Kay Gottschalk, the deputy leader of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), reshared side-by-side images of West Germany’s team from the 1990 World Cup final with the team Klopp selected to face Greece.
In the 1990 image, all of the players were white, while the team that played in Augsburg included eight non-white players. Quoting that post, Gottschalk said: “Character traits, certain virtues, and team spirit are cultural values that develop over centuries and are shaped by shared historical experiences.”
'No reason to pay attention'
Asked to respond, Klopp hit out. “There is absolutely no reason to pay attention to these people,” he said. “You won’t get my thoughts on this. I have little time in everyday life for idiocy – and even less on social media. The great crux of our lives is that everyone is allowed to express their opinion … it’s insane when something like that exists.”
Klopp added that he believes mutual respect is still possible. “The world could learn a thing or two from a sports changing room … There, everyone is respected based on the facts and not discredited based on false opinions,” he said.
Reclaiming the flag
The last decade has seen similar lines of attack from the AfD. In 2016, following Germany's European Championship elimination, Beatrix von Storch, the AfD’s Deputy Party Leader, wrote on X that “Perhaps the German NATIONAL TEAM should play again next time?”
After taking the reins for the national side, Klopp has advocated for 'positive patriotism' and wants to reclaim the German flag. Speaking last month, he said: “I don’t want to entrust national pride to the wrong people. A crazy amount of things have happened not that long ago. There was a vote which some people probably found OK, but others would have thought: ‘Good heavens, what’s going on here?’ From the perspective of someone in sport, I’d like to reclaim the flag for myself and for us. When we wave it, I don’t want that someone thinks: ‘What’s going on with you?’ I want that they think you’re happy and you understand how lucky you are to be born in this wonderful country or to have moved here and live here.”
