Jurgen Klopp walked away from an interview after being questioned on Bastian Schweinsteiger’s recent controversial comments.
Klopp was left infuriated by a member of the media, as they asked him about Schweinsteiger being accused of racial stereotyping.
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Following Germany’s last-gasp 2-1 win over Ivory Coast last weekend, the former Man United and Bayern Munich star said that their opponents played ‘African football’, adding that the style was ‘a bit unorthodox sometimes, a bit wild, not quite as tactical’.
He has received some backlash after the statements, with Klopp now refusing to get involved in the matter when questioned.
In fact, the legendary ex-Liverpool manager, who is working as a pundit at the World Cup in North America, abruptly ended his chat when asked about the controversy.
As a journalist was starting to ask him about Schweinsteiger’s words, the German boss intervened and quickly hit back at her.
“And now you want to carry on this subject,” Klopp said. “No, no – I have no chance to answer this question.
“Everybody likes it, so you bring me into this situation. It’s not my job that everyone likes it, but this is a serious subject. And I don’t even know what is appropriate to say.
“For African people, it’s one thing, for other people it’s another.
“Thank God, I thought nobody would ask me about that. You found a moment. And surprisingly, you are German.”
“That surprised me so much,” he then concluded, before instantly walking away, adding: “Thank you so much.”
Other journalists involved in the chat then pleaded with him to stay, but Klopp had already walked away, to their disappointment.
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Schweinsteiger controversy
Klopp refused to answer the question on Schweinsteiger’s comments amid backlash regarding racial stereotypes.
Philipp Awounou, a German journalist and author, wrote about the words said about the Ivory Coast and the impact they have.
Awounou said: “Behind attributions like ‘wild’ and ‘unpredictable’ are stereotypes which are older than football and which have racist, colonial roots.
“In the past, Black people of African heritage were stigmatised as uncivilised (‘wild’), different (‘unorthodox’) and potentially dangerous (‘unpredictable’).”
However, despite calling out the comments from Schweinsteiger, he insisted that the former player isn’t a racist.
“That’s simply wrong,” Awounou added. “Regardless of his problematic remarks, Schweinsteiger is absolutely not a racist and shouldn’t be labelled as such.”
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A German content creator, Patrick Schnitzler, also added some insight to the situation, saying: “These are racist stereotypes.
“We learn such stereotypes because we have grown up in a society with stereotypes. Schweinsteiger, too. You and me, too.”
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