Bastian Schweinsteiger has defended comments he made ahead of Germany’s World Cup match against Ivory Coast last weekend.
Schweinsteiger, who is working for German broadcaster ARD during the tournament, described African football as “wild”, “unorthodox” and “perhaps not tactically driven” before the match in Toronto, drawing significant criticism.
In a statement released by ARD on Schweinsteiger’s behalf on Friday, the 41-year-old World Cup winner insisted that he “was talking about football, not about people”.
“This is a football analysis. No more and no less. There’s no way I wanted to offend someone,” he added.
ARD’s head of sport, Axel Balkausky, also offered a robust defence of his pundit.
“Bastian Schweinsteiger expressed his expectations regarding the Cote d’Ivoire team’s playing style,” Balkausky said. “In doing so, he summarized his experiences and observations made from recent matches. This wasn’t about the individuals, but rather a footballing assessment.
“I cannot find any form of racism in this, nor in the choice of words.”
The strongest criticism of Schweinsteiger was made by Ivory Coast’s head coach, Emerse Fae, who was asked about the comments during a press conference following his country’s 2-0 win over Curacao on Thursday.
“I think it’s sad,” Fae said. “He was a very good player, a great player. I’ve always loved him personally. As a midfielder myself, I always liked the way he played and how he understood the game. So much so, in fact, that a friend who used to train with me knew how much I liked him and would call me ‘Bastian’.
“So when I heard this comment, I was disappointed. Disappointed in the man. When you know football as well as he does, it’s odd that he would speak in a way that we could call racist, if we’re calling a spade a spade.”
Responding to those comments directly, Balkausky said that he hoped Fae and Schweinsteiger would have the opportunity to meet during the World Cup.
“If the coach of the Ivory Coast, Emerse Fae, would exchange directly with Bastian, his suspicions would be revised in a very short time — I’m sure of that,” Balkausky said in the statement, which was distributed to German media on Friday.
“Maybe there will be such an opportunity in the course of the tournament?”