GRAMbusiness manager Frank Bohman The Handball Bundesliga (HBL) has called on German sport to take a stronger stance against right-wing extremism. “Sport is not the politics that can really act afterwards. But since we are in front of a big showcase, we can convey to the outside world that we are against what is currently happening in some confused minds. As a country we cannot afford to forget history,” Bohmann told the sports information service.
Sport, explained the head of the league, is a “protective space, not only in high-level sport, but also in popular sport. Parents send their children to the sports club because they should be well protected there. That is why we have to position the sport in the same way before the outside world. With everything we have: against racism, against exclusion, against discrimination. We have to make it loud, like the protesters are doing now,” Bohmann said.
“Determination and moral courage”
According to an investigation by the media company Correctiv, AfD politicians, members of the right-wing conservative Union of Values, right-wing extremists and businessmen met in a Potsdam hotel in November 2023 to discuss the expulsion of millions of people with a immigrant. background of Germany.
Since then there have been numerous demonstrations throughout the country; Last weekend, according to data from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than 480,000 people participated in demonstrations throughout Germany.
The president of the German Handball Association, Andreas Michelmann, caused irritation during the European Handball Championship because he said regarding the demonstrations that they were “good and important” but “they do not replace (…) what I do not believe to be a politics of manifestation consistently aligned with the interests of the people.”
Bohmann now announced that HBL will “position itself clearly.” “It is important that the fight against extremism is a permanent task for all citizens. This is an ongoing process. This requires determination and moral courage. We are responsible not only for what we do, but also for what we do not do. “We will use our options to draw attention to this,” the 59-year-old said.