dThe insults came by email. Christian Streich It was said that he should “shut up”, take care of football and not say such nonsense. This week at SC Freiburg more than sixty letters of this type were counted. Anonymous, nameless, addressless, full of anger. Some people called the club office and vehemently demanded a personal conversation with Streich, the Bundesliga club's coach. One of the club's approximately 65,000 members threatened to leave.
Streich had said phrases like this in the press conference prior to the match against Hoffenheim: “No one has to complain if he stays still or say things like: An AfD voter is a protest voter.” And: “Everyone in this country supports the call.” stand up and position yourself clearly in the family circle, at work or anywhere else. It's five minutes to twelve. And no one should complain if it is governed by a right-wing authoritarian and nationalist group.” The day before, Streich was among several thousand protesters in Freiburg. Across Germany, more than a million people were now in the streets to protest. AfD and demonstrate for democracy.
In Cologne For example, in total about 100,000 people took to the streets in two demonstrations. Timo Hübers, a professional at 1. FC Cologne, considered it “extraordinary”, which was heard on the club's channel: “To be against the right it is not necessary to have strong opinions.” They all came to Cologne and will continue to come until this Sunday, on the second day, almost 20,000 people attended the great handball festival, the Euro Cup and the German national team matches. Here the topic was filtered somewhat slowly. But then with a sound that seemed strange. It really matters to hear it in a Deutschlandfunk report titled: “How sport positions itself against the right (sic!)”.
Double relativization
that's what it was for Andreas Michelmann, president of the German Handball Federation (DHB), was interviewed immediately after Germany's European championship match against Austria last Saturday. Some of Michelmann's sentences sound even more complicated when spoken than when printed. He first says that there are currently “many demonstrations in Germany” and “we have done well to concentrate on sport.”
A double relativization before reaching the third point: “And, of course, I understand that people in this situation, in which I or we have probably never been before (…), are particularly sensitive and react in their own way, I understand it perfectly. that, so to speak. I am only of the opinion that the demonstrations, no matter how good and important they are, do not replace what I believe to be a policy that is not coherently aligned with the interests of the people.” Here's to the 18-year-old German studies graduate. years until 2022, mayor of Aschersleben, you can clearly hear the struggle to find the right words.
What do you mean by “a policy that is not consistently aligned with the interests of the people”? In his response to a question from the FAS, Michelmann limited himself to a general reference to the decision-making authority of politics “on the basis of our free and democratic basic order”, and the demonstrations “could not do the job of the policy”. Even when he is asked, he does not go beyond “full understanding”, so the impression remains even more relativized and reserved; there is no feeling of support or encouragement. Axel Kromer, the sports director, was somewhat more affirmative DHB. He is “good for people to stand up and speak,” and he is “glad that a lot of our population is standing up.” Then he passed the ball to politics.