Emmanuel Thomas I Sunday, August 13, 2023
BERLIN – The German Football Federation (DFB) has launched an investigation after Greuther Fürth forward Julian Green was allegedly racially abused in their German Cup win at third division side Hallescher FC.
“The DFB doesn’t tolerate racism and hostility on its grounds. There’s zero tolerance. Accordingly, the control committee will intervene and investigate the events,” Anton Nachreiner, chairman of the DFB committee, said on Sunday.
Second-tier Fürth coach Alexander Zorniger said that Green was “called monkey several times by the spectators. That didn’t happen only one, two or three times.”
“The stadium was 95% full. There were enough people there who could have intervened. Something like that is simply not appropriate, whether it happens in Fürth, Nuremberg or Rostock,” he added.
According to the club, Green said it was one spectator during the game. “But I didn’t want to let that upset us because I really wanted to win. And that’s what hurts them the most,” he said.
Hallescher spokeswomen Lisa Schöppe apologized on behalf of the club on Saturday for the misconduct of some spectators after Zorniger’s statements.
