Bayern Munich has launched a timely new campaign against racism, both in the stadium and in everyday life.
Bayern has officially launched a new anti-racism campaign, “Rot gegen Rassismus”/“Reds against Racism,” this Thursday. The campaign had been planned for some time.
Seventeen members of the club — from the soccer team, the basketball team, the women’s soccer team, and the front office — gathered and shot a video declaring a stand against racism in all places, not just on the football field, but in the locker rooms, in the stands, in the schools, in the supermarkets, airports, train stations, and everywhere else.
Club captain Manuel Neuer was joined by his teammates Thomas Muller, Thiago, Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Sule, Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, and Alphonso Davies in sharing their experiences.
FC Bayern Frauen stars Lineth Beerensteyn and Lina Magull, FC Bayern Basketball players Danilo Barthel and Alex King, and present and past board members Oliver Kahn, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Herbert Hainer, Hasan Salihamidzic, and Uli Hoeness also firmly denounced the existence of racism and embraced the values that not just the club, but the society as a whole must withhold.
“In a functioning society, you cannot always speak of an open world and great values only if it brings you advantages. It is about sensible cooperation, a common exchange, mutual respect and tolerance,” said Muller. “We never tire of raising awareness of the issue of racism.”
Kimmich chimed in, saying, “My image of Germany is that diversity and tolerance are practiced here. This image should not and cannot be papered over because it is part of our values, our normality. Because Germany is multicultural.”
