The German Government considered on Wednesday that boycotting the Soccer World Cup in USA “is not the appropriate way” to express disagreement with the policy of Donald Trumpafter not having ruled out this possibility at the time of the tensions over Greenland.
“Political confrontations must be fought on political grounds and sport must remain sport,” he declared. Steffen Meyerspokesman for the German Government, at a press conference.
Berlin “does not support” this option because “sport should not be instrumentalized,” agreed the Minister of Sports, Christiane Schenderleinin statements to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, stressing that the World Cup (June 11 to July 19) is also held in Canada y Mexico.
Quadruple world champions, the last time in 2014, the German team has not missed any World since the immediate post-war period (1950).
In January, at the height of tensions between Europe and Washington caused by Donald Trump’s expressed desire to annex Greenland and impose additional tariffs on European countries that opposed, Schenderlein He did not rule out this possibility.
“The federal government respects the autonomy of sport” and the participation of the team It is “the exclusive competence of sports federations, and not of the political world,” he then responded to AFP.
Initiated in the context of tensions around Greenlandcalls to boycott the World Cup are now motivated by the anti-immigration policy of the US government and the methods of the immigration police in Minneapolis.
The death of two protesters, murdered by federal agents, has caused great shock in the country and around the world, which has also raised a wave of concern about the security conditions of the millions of fans expected this summer in USA.
Read also
At the end of January, Sepp Blatterformer president of the International Football Federation (FIFA)echoed the call of a famous Swiss anti-corruption lawyer to “avoid USA“this summer.
According to the German magazine Spiegel on Wednesday, several left-wing MEPs have written to the European Federation (UEFA) asking it to examine possible sanctions, including a boycott, due to the “political measures” and “rhetoric” recently observed by the American side.
On Monday, the president of the FIFA, Gianni Infantinoexpressed his general opposition to boycotts, which, in his opinion, “only contribute to increasing hatred.”
