By David Gold
March 1 – German Football Federation (DFB) chief-in-waiting Wolfgang Niersbach has said that anti-Semitic incidents, following abuse of Kaiserslautern’s Israeli forward Itay Shechter (pictured), will not be tolerated.
After Kaiserslautern had suffered a 4-0 defeat at Mainz which left them mired in relegation trouble, a small group of people attended training and shouted anti-Semitic abuse at Shechter, including performing a Nazi salute.
Kaiserslautern were quick to distance themselves from the incident, as were their supporters’ representatives, wary of the sensitive political context in a country where six million Jews lost their lives under Nazi rule before and during the Second World War.
Police launched an investigation to find those involved after the club reported the incident, and Kaiserslautern chairman Stefan Kuntz lamented the behaviour of the guilty parties, which he said overshadowed a planned meeting with supporters.
“The players understood the feelings, views and fears of the fans,” he said.
“As a conclusion, it is this meeting with 300 club fans that should be in focus and not the inexcusable behaviour of a handful of radicals.”
Niersbach (pictured), who takes over from Theo Zwanziger as head of the DFB next month, added: “Together with the President we want to underline that the DFB will not tolerate such actions and we must act decisively.
“Racism and anti-Semitism have no place in football.
“We must defend ourselves against this and we wish that the authorities chase up this incident.”
Supporters groups of Kaiserslautern issued a joint statement following the incident, saying: “The club’s fan representatives want to distance themselves from any racist, discriminatory or anti-Semitic comments of any kind.”
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1738370829labto1738370829ofdlr1738370829owedi1738370829sni@d1738370829log.d1738370829ivad1738370829