DFB rejects plea to make stand against US
‘Our goal is to strengthen this force – not to prevent it’
Germany’s football federation, the DFB, has ruled out a boycott of the World Cup despite calls to send a message to Donald Trump. “We believe in the unifying power of sport and the global impact that a Fifa World Cup can have,” the DFB said. “Our goal is to strengthen this positive force – not to prevent it.”
The federation said its executive committee met and discussed the option of a boycott of this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a consideration first proposed last week by the DFB vice-president, Oke Göttlich.
Göttlich, who is also president of the Bundesliga club St Pauli, referred to Trump’s recent actions and statements and said it was time to “seriously consider” a boycott. In what appears to be a public rebuke to Göttlich, however, the DFB said “debates on sports policy should be conducted internally and not in public”.
