Before the game in Leipzig

Racism scandal? ÖFB fan clubs issue statement

The European Football Championship also brings with it a whole host of unpleasant topics.

(Bild: AP/APA/dpa/Christian Charisius)

The ÖFB and the official fan clubs of the Austrian Football Association have distanced themselves from the incidents following reports of racist slogans before the lost European Championship round of 16 match against Turkey.

The association of fan clubs "Fankurve Österreich" declared on Thursday that none of its own pre-singers had chanted the slogan "Germany to the Germans, foreigners out" to the tune of the song "L'amour toujours" before or during the European Championship games.

Explanation: We originally illustrated the first version of this article with a picture that was unfortunately "de-contextualized" and showed people who had no connection with the city of Leipzig, much less with the racism scandal suggested in the title. We regret this - especially as our intention was exactly the opposite. We were only interested in the symbolic visualization of Austria fans in general. In no way did we actually want to associate people with relevant negative incidents.

(Bild: krone.at)

Tolerant curve
However, during a broadcast on Swiss television SRF before the match against Turkey in Leipzig on Tuesday, Austrian supporters were seen doing exactly that. "Together with the ÖFB, we stand for an open and tolerant curve," the statement said on Thursday. According to the statement, the video footage came from the meeting point before a planned fan march in Leipzig.

The racist slogan became known through a video from the German island of Sylt. In it, numerous young people at a party had shouted "Foreigners out" and "Germany to the Germans" to the song by Gigi D'Agostino. Numerous other incidents have since been reported. The song is therefore not to be played at some public festivals and is also not permitted at the European Football Championship.

ÖFB tradition
The actually very peaceful song "L'amour toujours" is normally one of the songs played around the Austrian national team. The association had also applied for the song to be played in stadiums in Germany after victorious European Championship matches - but after the incidents with the racist slogan, the ÖFB and the European Football Union refrained from doing so. The Italian DJ D'Agostino had made it clear that his song was exclusively about love.

Banner also upsets
In the final phase of Austria's European Championship match against Poland in Berlin, there was also an incident involving an obviously right-wing extremist banner that was presented in the final phase. "Defend Europe" was written on the banner. The slogan belongs to the far-right Identitarian Movement (IB), which, according to the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution, advocates the immediate closure of all borders and stylizes migration as a general threat. The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) has distanced itself from this and expressed its concern.