Germany friendly ahead of Olympics suspended due to racist insults
THE dress rehearsal of the German Olympic football team ahead of the Summer Games in Tokyo was finished prematurely five minutes before the end due to racist insults.
The German football federation (DFB) said on Twitter that defender Jordan Torunarigha was racially insulted by an opponent during the match against Honduras in Wakayama, Japan, on Saturday.
The German team left the pitch together with the score at 1-1. The last test for coach Stefan Kuntz’s side took place behind closed doors.
“If one of our players is racially insulted, it is not an option for us to keep playing,” Kuntz said.
“He (Torunarigha) could hardly contain himself, was terribly upset because he said he had been racially insulted repeatedly. This violates our values, we’re completely taking our player’s side,” the coach added.
Torunarigha’s club Hertha Berlin reacted on Twitter saying: “This is the only right decision ” Honduras said on Twitter the incident was a misunderstanding on the pitch.
Kuntz compared this statement to when A student gets home with bad marks in a test.
“I used to say to my mother: It was a misunderstanding between the teacher and me. We’d best leave that without comment.” Torunarigha was already a victim of racist abuse during a German Cup match in February 2020 against Schalke, who were fined 50,000 euros (59,030 dollars) by the DFB due to monkey chants coming from the stands.
The German team could only travel to Japan with 15 field players and three goalkeepers after several players cancelled their participation in the Games. A squad of 22 players is allowed.
Germany, who secured the silver medal at the Rio 201 Olympics, start their Tokyo campaign against current Olympic winners Brazil.