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Manager says social media claims are ‘nonsense’ and ‘idiocy’
Jürgen Klopp has reacted with disgust to a social media debate questioning whether the Germany team he is in the process of forming are “white enough”.
Klopp said he believed there was no point in giving room to “such people and their utterances”, dismissing them as “complete nonsense”. Asked to respond to the debate as to whether the national team were “not German enough” or “not white enough”, he said: “There is absolutely no reason to pay attention to these people. 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 said watching sportspeople interact with each other was proof to him that mutual respect was 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. ” Klopp, whose plans for Germany since he took over as coach during the summer have attracted huge attention, said the players he had gathered at the national team camp, including several players with a migrant background, “could not be better united than they are”.
The barrage of racist and generally offensive commentaries on social media followed Germany’s 1-0 defeat in the Nations League against Greece last Sunday, marking the first time Germany have been beaten by Greece. It is also reflective of plenty of utterances from politicians from the far-right Alternative für Deutschland , the largest opposition party in the German parliament, who have repeatedly and consistently criticised the diversity and ethnic make-up of the national team, often referring to the squad in derogatory terms such as a “politically correct mercenary force”.
Klopp, whose four-year contract runs to the end of the 2030 World Cup, was speaking ahead of Germany’s Nations League fixture against Serbia on Thursday. – Guardian
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