Dhe Berlin soccer club CFC Hertha 06 has once again drawn attention to itself with anti-Semitic statements. An ARD documentary on the subject of anti-Semitism in football allows club chairman Ergün Çakir to have his say. In it he says: “My son will hate the Jews for the rest of his life.”
This was preceded by a game of Hertha 06 A-Juniors against the Jewish club TuS Makkabi in November 2022. The Hertha players insulted their opponents, gave the Hitler salute and shouted: “I’ll burn you and your dirty flag, you bastards, like that the Germans did that to you.”
The case ended up in court. Hertha 06 was fined 1,500 euros and three points deducted. Two players were banned from football for two years – one of them was Çakir’s son.
When asked by “BZ”, Çakir reiterated his statement: “I meant that my son will hate the Jews because they won’t be able to play football for two years.” The police are said to have already been involved.
For the sports councilor of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Heike Schmitt-Schmelz, Çakir has once again “crossed the line of tolerability”. She is having measures examined “that go as far as the withdrawal of sports areas and also public sports funding”. The behavior shown was “unacceptable”.
