Jurgen Klopp speaks in an interview at the World Cup (Image: DW Sports)
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp walked out of an interview after being questioned about the racism controversy surrounding his fellow German Bastian Schweinsteiger. The World Cup winner has faced accusations of making racist remarks while covering Germany’s triumph over the Ivory Coast. The ex-Manchester United and Bayern Munich legend is employed by German broadcaster ARD.
Schweinsteiger, 41, has come under fire for his characterisation of the Ivory Coast’s style of play. While assessing the west Africans, he labelled their football as “African football” before describing it as being “a bit unorthodox sometimes, a bit wild, not quite as tactical.” He also stated that Julian Nagelsmann’s team must be “prepared for it to be unpredictable at times” before they went on to secure a 2-1 victory. The former midfielder’s remarks have attracted criticism and emerged as a major discussion point in Germany.
To such an extent that Klopp, who is serving as a pundit for Magenta TV in the US, was pressed by another journalist to address the controversy. When approached, he swiftly terminated the interview and walked away.
Speaking to DW Sports, the former Liverpool boss stated: “And now you want to carry on this subject. No, no, I have no chance, I have no chance to answer this question.
“Everybody likes it, so you bring me into this situation. It’s not my job that everybody likes it, but this is a serious subject. I don’t even know what is appropriate to say.
“For African people it’s one thing, for other people it’s another thing, and I’m not here. Thank god I thought nobody asked me about that. You found a moment and surprisingly you are German. That surprised me so much. Thank you very much.”
Bastian Schweinsteiger has been accused of making racially insensitive comments (Image: Getty Images)
Klopp then departed from the assembled journalists, many of whom were heard protesting “no, no” as he left.
Phillip Awounou, a black sports journalist and author from Germany, condemned Schweinsteiger’s remarks in a recent piece.
Writing in his column for Spiegel news magazine, he stated: “Behind attributions like ‘wild’ and ‘unpredictable’ are stereotypes which are older than football and which have racist, colonial roots.
“In the past, Black people of African heritage were stigmatized as uncivilized (‘wild’), different (‘unorthodox’) and potentially dangerous (‘unpredictable’).
“These are racist stereotypes,” sports content creator Patrick Schnitzler informed his 50,000 Instagram followers, citing recent academic research which has shown that commentators and supporters are more inclined to focus on Black footballers’ physical characteristics than those of non-Black players.
“We learn such stereotypes because we have grown up in a society with stereotypes. Schweinsteiger, too. You and me, too.”
Awounou did clarify that he does not believe Schweinsteiger is a racist, stating: “That’s simply wrong. Regardless of his problematic remarks, Schweinsteiger is absolutely not a racist and shouldn’t be labelled as such.”
Following the match, Schweinsteiger posted on social media: “Ivory Coast were the difficult opponent we expected and showed their technical quality and physicality,” shortly after Germany secured a dramatic 2-1 victory.