Hatred stirred up against German soccer player with a migration background

Alert DateJune 15, 2012 Country: Germany General Type: Racist discourse, Discrimination Racism and discrimination phenomena: Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Nationalism, Xenophobia
Groups affected / Interested in: Migrants Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Sport Hate speech/Racist Discourse Medium: Internet
Victims Data
Victims Nationality/Ethnic Origin Turkish
Victims Gender Male
Victims Age 18-25
Victims Number 1
Fatalities - deaths N/A
Perpetrators Data
Perpetrators Nationality/Ethnic Origin N/A
Perpetrator Gender N/A
Perpetrator Age N/A
Perpetrators Number N/A
Extremist/Organised Group Violence No

On 15 June 2012, hatred was stirred up against a player of the German national soccer team because of his Turkish-sounding name. Using an anonymous Twitter channel, unknown persons spread the message with the following wording: “Özil ist garantiert kein Deutscher! Ein Stück Papier ändert nicht die Abstammung.“ ("Özil is not a German. A piece of paper doesn´t change the descent".) The head of UEFA Michel Platini and the German Federal Minister of the Interior Hans-Peter Friedrich condemned the racist campaign against the soccer player. A complaint against unknown defendants was filed.

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