Former German national football team player Bastian Schweinsteiger was accused of resorting to racist stereotypes when referring to the Ivory Coast team, which Germany faced last Saturday (20/6) in the World Cup.
A commentator for the German public broadcaster ARD, the German stated that the Ivorians play “African football”, which he characterized as “unorthodox”, “a little wild” and “perhaps, sometimes, not so marked by tactics”.
The German term used by Schweinsteiger was “wild”, which, in Portuguese, can be translated as “savage”, but can also indicate, more broadly or in informal language, rebellion, irreverence or lack of control.
The 2014 world champion also said that Germany should be prepared for the match to be “unpredictable at times”.
The former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder has not yet publicly commented on the episode.
“Colonial roots”
Schweinsteiger’s statements provoked reactions on social media and in traditional German media, with accusations that he resorted to racist and colonial clichés that reduce black people to supposed physical attributes rather than recognizing their intellectual capabilities.
“Behind attributes like ‘wild’ and ‘unpredictable’ are stereotypes that are older than football and have racist and colonial roots,” said black German journalist Philipp Awounou in a column published in Spiegel magazine. “In the past, black people of African origin have been stigmatized as uncivilized (‘savage’), different (‘unorthodox’) and potentially dangerous (‘unpredictable’).”
Sports content creator Patrick Schnitzler pointed to recent academic studies that show that commentators and fans are more likely to highlight physical attributes of black players than non-black athletes.
“We learn these stereotypes because we grow up in a society that reproduces them,” he told his 50,000 Instagram followers. “Schweinsteiger too. You and me too.”
For Awounou, who rejects labeling Schweinsteiger as racist, the former player’s comments “reflect the opinion of many German football fans and experts.”
Ivory Coast displayed solid tactics
The ARD commentator’s predictions were not confirmed during the match on Saturday.
Especially in the first half, Ivory Coast presented a tactically solid performance against Germany. The team led by Julian Nagelsmann was forced to play wide and limit themselves to crosses and long-range shots.
The performance is not surprising: Ivory Coast had a good campaign in qualifying for the World Cup and most of its players have already played for major European clubs. The team threatened with counterattacks and opened the scoring with captain Franck Kessié, after a good play by Yan Diomandé, RB Leipzig’s coveted winger. Still, Germany ended up winning 2-1.
“Ivory Coast were the tough opponents we expected and demonstrated their technical and physical quality,” Schweinsteiger wrote on social media after the match.
“If I had to decide, I would say that the most ‘wild’ team in this game was us: the Germans,” said Awounou, suggesting in his Spiegel column that the least “orthodox” player on the field, who stood out for his physical strength as well as his technique, was not Ivorian, but Felix Nmecha.
“A German. A black player. With Nigerian roots. Born in Hamburg. Grew up and trained in England. What does that tell us?”, he asked. “That our world, and with it football, have become too global to determine qualities based on continent of origin or skin color.”
