“The rising number of attacks on non-whites in Germany, combined with a spate of racist sloganeering and taunting of black soccer players throughout Europe, has set the stage for an unprecedented display of racism on a global sports stage…. The German government, however, dutifully ignored the Reich rumblings, preparing instead for the corporate bonanza that accompanies the Cup…. The German government’s head was firmly ensconced in the sand until a man named Uwe-Karsten Heye upturned the apple car. Heye, a former spokesman for the Social Democratic-Green coalition government, said, “There are small and mid-sized towns in Brandenburg and elsewhere where I would advise anyone [in the country for the World Cup] with a different skin color not to go. They might not make it out alive.”
Despite little meaningful action by government bodies, or by FIFA, to address the pattern of racism and its connection to soccer, there are powerful signs of player resistance:
“In last month’s European club championship, French superstar Thierry Henry sported an armband promoting an antiracist campaign called Stand Up Speak Up. Henry pushed his sponsor Nike to produce black and white intertwined armbands that demonstrate a commitment against racism. So far, they have sold more than five million. “That’s important in making the very real point that racism is a problem for everyone, a collective ailment,” Henry said to Time Magazine. “It shows that people of all colors, even adversaries on the pitch, are banding together in this, because we’re all suffering from it together.”
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