“Racism is not an opinion”: Akanji is racially insulted – Dortmund react

Two weeks ago it was Breel Embolo. The Swiss national team player has received defamatory and clearly racist messages on Instagram. Embolo immediately ridiculed the author himself by publishing the words. Just a week later he hit his teammate and good friend Manuel Akanji. He has received similar news, announced his club, Borussia Dortmund.

The club did not provide the exact wording of the insults, only wrote in a statement that they appeared in Akanji’s Instagram inbox following the top match against Bayern Munich. An image can be seen above the open letter to the fans, the Dortmund players form a heart there, with the caption: “Racism is not an opinion”.

BVB also writes that they will not stop releasing it in the future if a player like Akanji has such experiences. Why: “This is not just another incident for us these days when there is national and international hostility against soccer players from a wide variety of clubs and leagues. The actual number of racist slurs in sport is likely to be even higher, but such incidents are often not published.

In addition to Dortmund, the Swiss national team has also fought against racism. On the evening of the match against Belgium (1: 2), the association posted a video on social media (see above) in which Vladimir Petkovic, Granit Xhaka, Embolo and Akanji had their say. “We of the Swiss national team stand up for tolerance! Hate attacks against ethnic groups, religion, gender, sexual orientation and any other form of discrimination have no place in this world, ”Akanji wrote. He himself did not play against Belgium, but his colleagues knelt before the match to emphasize the message.