German head coach Julian Nagelsmann has attacked a “racist” survey asking fans whether they wanted more white players on the national team.
A total of 21 per cent agreed with the proposition when responding to the poll by German public broadcaster ARD, which has sparked much dismay.
Nagelsmann, 36, said he agreed with Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich, who described the questionnaire as “racist” a day earlier.
“It is racist,” said Nagelsmann. “I feel we need to wake up. Many people in Europe had to flee.. searching for a safe country.”
ARD said it had commissioned the survey after a reporter working on a documentary on football and diversity was repeatedly asked about the make-up of the national team. The German team has been less mixed in heritage in past decades but now has a diverse line-up, with captain Ilkay Gündogan and winger Leroy Sané among the squad’s leading stars. Nagelsmann said his team would be playing “for everyone in the country”.
“Josh [Kimmich] responded really well, with a very clear and thought-out statement,” Nagelsmann said of the survey while speaking at a briefing at his team’s training base. “I see this in exactly the same way. This question is insane. 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.”
The poll was conducted among 1,304 randomly selected respondents in Germany, which hosts Euro 2024 this summer. Karl Valks, the ARD sports director who commissioned the poll, reportedly said the company was “dismayed that the results are what they are, but they are also an expression of the social situation in Germany today”.
“Sport plays an important role in our society, the national team is a strong example of integration,” he told German media.
Germany kick-off the competition with a clash against Scotland at Munich’s Allianz Arena on June 14. Last month Adidas was forced to ban fans from buying German football kits customised with number 44 because of the font’s resemblance to the symbol used by Nazi SS units.