German FA boss says World Cup boycott would be ‘misguided’

The German Football Association (DFB) has broken its silence on the matter of a potential boycott of the World Cup, to be hosted by the United States this summer, with a few games also to be played in Mexico and Canada.

Speaking at a German Football League (DFL) meeting on Monday, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf said: “I don’t think this is a big debate at all, because I believe we at the DFB are very unanimous in our view that this debate is completely misguided at this point in time.” 

DFL President Hans-Joachim Watzke, also present at the event, said now was not the time to discuss such a topic.

“When the time is right, we will discuss it, but from my point of view, it is completely out of place right now,” Watzke said.

He was supported by Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, who referenced the 2018 World Cup in Russia where all teams played four years after the hosts annexed the Crimea from Ukraine. Dreesen added he doesn’t see why Germany shouldn’t participate in the tournament this year and that geopolitics should be handled elsewhere.

Boycott calls growing

Calls for a boycott have been growing in both Germany and Europe in light of US President Donald Trump’s position on Greenland and, more recently, after a second fatal shooting in the city of Minneapolis by members of ICE.

The overall sense is that as a result of their protest in Qatar and because of the weakened state of the European Union, a boycott remains unlikely. But that hasn’t stopped even some voices inside the DFB speaking their minds. DFB Vice President and St Pauli Chairman Oke Göttlich doubled down on his feelings about the situation at the DFL event.

“Personally, I would advise against traveling given the current situation in the country (USA),” Göttlich told Sportschau.

“I may disagree with many of my colleagues. But I am also a democrat who can understand if, in the end, the majority decides that a boycott is perhaps not the right signal for German football to send,” he added.

Neuendorf criticized Göttlich for not discussing his feelings with the DFB first.

“He hasn’t been with us that long. But as a rule, we first discuss these issues in committees, so to speak, and then form an opinion. Unfortunately, he has now jumped the gun on this issue,” Neuendorf said.

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter recently posted on social media that he also supports a fan boycott of the World Cup. Some fans are not able to travel due to recently updated travel bans from the current US administration.

Edited by: Chuck Penfold