Why Soccer Sucks Reason #1
That sensitivity is lacking in Germany, said Dombowski, where many soccer teams have active neo-Nazi fan blocs who use game time to build contacts and recruit new members. Those same fans shower foreign players with chanted racist slurs and songs, and display neo-Nazi symbols on banners and posters.
“In eastern Germany, (the Nazi element) is more open,” Dombowski said in an interview with DW-WORLD. “In the west, it has gotten more subtle, more hidden. They use codes and new symbols instead of the swastika.”
Replacing the jungle calls that once greeted players from the African continent are numbers like “88.” The number 8 being the numerical equivalent of the letter ”H," and "88" being skinhead code for "Heil Hitler."
That sensitivity is lacking in Germany, said Dombowski, where many soccer teams have active neo-Nazi fan blocs who use game time to build contacts and recruit new members. Those same fans shower foreign players with chanted racist slurs and songs, and display neo-Nazi symbols on banners and posters.
“In eastern Germany, (the Nazi element) is more open,” Dombowski said in an interview with DW-WORLD. “In the west, it has gotten more subtle, more hidden. They use codes and new symbols instead of the swastika.”
Replacing the jungle calls that once greeted players from the African continent are numbers like “88.” The number 8 being the numerical equivalent of the letter ”H," and "88" being skinhead code for "Heil Hitler."
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