- A poll said 21 per cent of 1,304 Germans want more white players in the team
- Julian Nagelsmann and Joshua Kimmich have slammed the ‘racist’ survey
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Julian Nagelsmann has slammed a controversial survey asking people if they would prefer to see more white players in the German national team.
The shocking question was put to 1,304 randomly selected participants, of which, 21 per cent of people said yes. While another harrowing revelation revealed that 17 per cent of those polled called it a ‘shame’ that former Man City star Ilkay Gundogan is captain, due to his Turkish roots.
It was conducted on behalf of WDR as part of broadcaster ARD’s ‘United and Justice and Diversity – The National Team between Racism and Identification’ documentary.
The documentary – which will be released on June 5 – looks at the changing dynamic of the German national team over the years and speaks to current and former players about their experiences with racism.
Nagelsmann, who manages the host nation of this summer’s Euro 2024, has been left stunned by the survey which he has blasted as ‘c**p’, stating that it was ‘madness’ for the broadcaster to ask such a question.
During a press conference, he said: ‘I thought about it briefly and I have the feeling that we need to wake up a bit.’
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‘There are people in Europe who’ve had to flee because of war, economic factors, environmental disasters, people who simply want to be taken in. We have to ask what are we doing at the moment?
‘We in Germany are doing very, very well, and when we say something like that, I think it’s crazy how we turn a blind eye and simply block out such things.’
Nagelsmann isn’t the only person on the matter to speak on the subject, with Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich dismissing the survey as ‘racist’.
The midfielder said: ‘Anyone who grew up in football knows that it’s absolute nonsense. Football unites people of different skin colours and religions, and that’s what it’s all about.
‘I would miss a lot of players if they weren’t here. So that’s absolutely racist. Such a survey is absolutely counterproductive.’
Kimmich also took umbrage at the timing of the survey, which comes fewer than two weeks before Germany begin their home Euro 2024 campaign – as they start the campaign against Scotland on June 14.
‘When you consider that we are facing a European Championship at home, it is absurd to ask such a question when the aim is to unite the whole country (and we want) to achieve great things together,’ he added.
‘As a team, we are trying everything to get everyone in Germany behind us. A survey like this is absolutely counterproductive.’
Nagelsmann agreed with Kimmich that the survey was ‘racist’ and said a football team can be a role model for how different cultures, religious backgrounds and skin colours, can join as a group towards achieving major goals.
He added: ‘I always find it bizarre that we all go on vacation to get to know other cultures and then other cultures come here and we complain about it. It’s bizarre.
‘We’re playing a European Championship for everyone in the country. And anyone who can play top football is invited to be a national player and give their all for their country. And that’s what we’re doing. And I hope I never have to read about such a crap survey again.’
It must be noted that 65 per cent of respondents in the survey either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement of wanting more white players in the team.
The broadcaster told the Associated Press, as per ESPN, that a reporter working on the documentary was repeatedly confronted with statements about the make-up of the team during the making of it.
It’s added that it commissioned the poll in order to have ‘measurable facts on such statements’.
Meanwhile, within the documentary, Jonathan Tah, Gerald Asamoah and Shkodran Mustafi opened up about their experiences of racism in the German game.
Asamoah, who was born in Ghana but made 43 appearances for Germany, explained what life for him was like as a young player at Hannover 96 when he played in Cottbus in 1997.
‘The players were also very aggressive,’ he said. ‘They insulted me below the belt, and the N-word was used 1,000 times. That was just normal.’
Meanwhile, Mustafi, who has Albanian and Macedonian heritage, discussed the extra pressure he felt he was under when he was playing.
He added: ‘(People are observing) Who sings the national anthem? Who doesn’t sing it? Are you integrated, are you not integrated? Are you grateful to be able to play for Germany or not?’
Germany are set to be in action against Ukraine on Monday, before facing Greece this Friday in their final warm-up game before the tournament begins.
As well as Scotland, the hosts will also play Hungary and Switzerland in the group stage.