By CIARAN FAHEY
BERLIN (AP) — A member of the German soccer federation’s executive committee that it is time to consider a boycott of the World Cup due to the actions of the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Oke Göttlich, president of Bundesliga club St. Pauli and one of ten vice presidents of the German federation, told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper in an interview on Friday that “the time has come” to “seriously consider and discuss this.”
Trump has sown discord in Europe with his attempted acquisition of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark, and his subsequent threat to impose tariffs on eight European countries that opposed the acquisition. This left many of the United States’ closest allies warning of a break with Washington capable of tearing apart the NATO alliance.
“What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?” Gottlich said. “To my understanding, the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.”
United States is co-host of the World Cup from June 11 to July 19 together with Canada and Mexico. Fans have concerns about high ticket prices, while travel bans imposed by the Trump administration are also prohibiting fans from some competing nations from attending.
Göttlich, who has called for the defense of values, will likely face resistance to calls for a boycott from federation president Bernd Neuendorf and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
“Qatar was too political for everyone and now we’re completely apolitical? That’s something that really, really, really bothers me,” Göttlich said of the German federation’s opposition to the previous World Cup host.
Germany failed in that tournament, eliminated at the first opportunity, and the coach who took over later said he did not want any more political distractions.
“As organizations and society, we are forgetting how to set taboos and boundaries, and how to defend values,” Göttlich said. “Taboos are an essential part of our stance. Is a taboo crossed when someone threatens? Is a taboo crossed when someone attacks? When people die? I would like to know from Donald Trump when he has reached his taboo, and I would like to know from Bernd Neuendorf and Gianni Infantino.”
Hamburg-based St. Pauli is known for mixing sport with politics near the city’s red light district, and particularly for its left-wing stance. The club’s famous skull and crossbones symbol was first worn by squatters living nearby and later popularized by fans who identified as punks.
Göttlich dismissed the suggestion that a boycott would harm St. Pauli’s international players: Australia’s Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe and Japan’s Joel Chima Fujita.
“The life of a professional player is not worth more than the lives of countless people in various regions who are being attacked or threatened directly or indirectly by the World Cup host,” he said.
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