Germany: DFB president slams claims that national team is 'no longer German'

"These are isolated cases that we've already commented on. And as for Mr. Gauland's assessment, we've already rejected it firmly. It doesn't reflect public sentiment. Integration of refugees that came to us is accompanied with a wave of affection toward them in our clubs. More than 2,000 German clubs have already received an aid from a DFB fund as part of the programme "1:0 for one welcome". Our clubs do not only integrate refugees into their structures, but also escort them to state institutions and even organize small language courses for them. It's a pleasure for us to live along refugees and people with migrant backgrounds. And we need to integrate them into our clubs, because there are a lot of regions in Germany where every second child that comes into this world has migrant background. And if we don't succeed in bringing those children into our clubs and making them play for us, the German football won't have any future then. So we need children from that very sphere, if we want to save the number of our teams, of our members. I mean, we need to attract a lot of young people with migrant background - by the way, both male and female - to our clubs. This is a crucial aspect."
Reinhard Grindel, president of the German Football Association, condemned claims made by right-wing politician Alexander Gauland that the national team is 'no longer German', at a press conference in Berlin, Friday.
Grindel said that the remarks made by Gauland, of the Alternative for Germany party, do not "reflect public sentiment", and advocated the integration of refugees and people with migrant backgrounds as "crucial". "We need to integrate them into our clubs, because there are a lot of regions in Germany where every second child that comes into this world has migrant background", he said.
Referring to the participation of the Russian team in the upcoming UEFA Euro 2016, Grindel said that "Russia definitely has a strong team; it has mobilised its energy in view of the World Cup. Russia is a competitor that should be taken seriously. If we happen to play with them, it would be not easy."