Leverkusen’s Alonso calls for firm stance against far-right extremism

Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso joined the group of football representatives in Germany to call for a firm stance against right-wing extremism.

“We need to be clear and stand up to our values with our democratic positioning in those terms. I think that we, not just here at Bayer Leverkusen, but in the whole society, we a very open and international,” Alonso said.

“We must believe that we are in a very open society, that everyone has the right to come here and bring the best they can bring and embrace this culture wherever they come from, like I have,” he added.

Germany has seen a surge of demonstrations against the far-right after an investigative report said that right-wing extremists and politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had met to discuss plans for the deportation of millions of migrants from Germany.

The media outlet Correctiv said it had uncovered details of a meeting in a Potsdam villa in November attended by senior officials with the AfD, some conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) members and members of the arch conservative Werteunion group.

“We need to be firm with our positioning and not accept or tolerate these demands,” Alonso said referring to the alleged plans.

On Thursday, Freiburg coach Christian Streich called on professional football and its fans to take part in the nationwide demonstrations against right-wing extremism.

“If you don’t stand up now, you haven’t understood anything. Everyone in this country is called upon to stand up and take a very clear stance among their families, at work or anywhere else. Standing up, unmistakably, with a very clear position. Nothing else,” he said.

Streich himself participated in a rally in Freiburg on Wednesday. he stressed that not only football fans are citizens, but also coaches and top officials.