Storm over 'bunch of gays' in Germany's World Cup team

Agent of injured captain Michael Ballack alleged to have sneered at 'bunch of gays' in national team

Kate Connolly in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 July 2010 18.32 BST
Article history

German National Team Arrival — German national coach Joachim Löw arrives home from the World Cup. The elegant style of his players has been put down to some of them being gay. Photograph: Jan Huebner/Bongarts/Getty Images

German football was engulfed in controversy today over remarks by the agent of a top footballer, who allegedly referred to a "bunch of gays" in the national team.

Michael Becker, who has been the agent of German national football captain Michael Ballack for more than a decade, is reported to have made the comment in the latest edition of the news magazine Der Spiegel.
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Germans celebrate the diversity of their 'multiculti' World Cup team

Germany's football team is the most ethnically diverse in the country's history

- Kate Connolly in Berlin
- The Observer, Sunday 27 June 2010
- Article history

Germany's Mesut Ozil — As the son of Turkish immigrants Mesut Ozil is typical of Germany's 'multiculti' football team. Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP

Yagiz Dogan is hankering after a pair of orange and silver trainers similar to those worn by German footballer Mesut Ozil. "I'm saving up for them, after all he's my hero," says the 15-year-old, who lives in a flat in the Berlin district of Neukölln with his Turkish parents and grandparents.

Yagiz has hung a German flag from the window, much to the confusion of his mother. "Of course I want Germany to win the World Cup," he says.

He also thinks it's fine that Ozil, the German-born son of Turkish immigrants, has chosen to play for Germany rather than Turkey.

"What should be strange about that? He was born here, brought up here, he speaks the language, understands the culture – just like me. I can identify with him."

The boy could be speaking for Ozil himself. But what's clear from talking to him is how natural it is for a whole generation of young Germans – known as "Generation M" or "multiculti" – that their national football team comes from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Not only is this German team the youngest it has been since 1934 – half the squad are 24 or under – it is also the most ethnically diverse it has ever been. No fewer than half of the players were either born outside Germany, are the sons of immigrants, or have one non-German parent. And what's more, says national coach Joachim Löw, "they have a strong sense of identification with the eagle on their breasts and with the nation as a whole".

The effect of such a radical transition cannot be overstated in a country that for years did not consider itself a land of immigration, and where foreigners brought in to fill the skills gap were deliberately called "guest workers" on the understanding, or hope, that they would go home.

The change has come about thanks to a 1999 revamp of citizenship laws. Half the current team's players would not have been allowed in just over a decade ago.

Some bloggers on far-right websites railed in anger following Germany's swashbuckling 4-0 defeat of Australia a fortnight ago, insisting that the team was now "no longer German". But the team has won over the hearts of most Germans, who are delighted by the verve and fearlessness the new generation has injected into the game.

Ozil, arguably the star of this current team, who scored the winning goal in Wednesday's match against Ghana, said that he sees his "Turkish side" coming out in his technique and feel for the ball, "and the give-it-your-all attitude to my game is the German part of me".