Klopp responds to far-right claims that Germany national team isn’t ‘white enough’ | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp has given short shrift to people in Germany questioning whether the national team is ‘white enough’, labelling them “idiots” and insisting “it’s insane when something like that exists”.

Klopp is taking charge of Germany in his first camp as manager and they got off to a slow start under the Liverpool legend, drawing with the Netherlands and losing to Greece before beating Serbia 2-0 on Thursday night.

The defeat to Greece on Sunday saw a number of far-right politicians come out of the woodwork to point out the relatively few white players included.

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.

The players were all white in 1990 while the team that played on Sunday included eight non-white players.

Gottschalk wrote: ‘Character traits, certain virtues, and team spirit are cultural values that develop over centuries and are shaped by shared historical experiences.’

Asked to respond to the unadulterated racism, Klopp fumed. “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.

“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.”

This attack on the national team from the AfD is nothing new. After Germany were eliminated from Euro 2016, Deputy Party Leader Beatrix von Storch wrote on X: ‘Perhaps the German NATIONAL TEAM should play again next time?’

Speaking soon after he was announced as the new Germany manager, Klopp insists he wanted to “reclaim the flag”.

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.”