German soccer club Babelsberg 03 are mixing sport with politics again.
The fourth-tier club are forgoing a main jersey sponsor for the coming season to carry the logo of Seebruecke (Seabridge), a group campaigning for safe routes for refugees to reach Europe.
Babelsberg, who previously gained attention for their refugee-friendly stance and an ongoing campaign against Nazis, are to donate 5 euros (US$5.55) from every jersey sold to the organization.
Photo: AP
“The club wants to support Seebruecke’s political engagement for the right to flee and against the criminalization of civilian sea rescues,” the club said on their Web site.
“With this step, Babelsberg 03 commits itself to the basic principals of humanity and a solidarity-based welcome culture, and sends a signal against the deter-and-repel politics of the European Union,” they added.
Main sponsors Oatly, an oat milk manufacturer, and EWP, a local energy company, said they were happy to just support the club and leave the jersey free for another sponsor or political message.
“For us, only Seebruecke came into question. We were always engaged in favor of humanitarian issues, so it was a natural fit,” Babelsberg spokesman Thoralf Hontze said on Thursday.
The first batch of jerseys sold out in 24 hours.
The club are also offering fans a “solidarity membership” with half of the proceeds going to Seebruecke.
Babelsberg are the biggest soccer club in Potsdam. The team on Sunday lost their first game of the season 3-1 in Germany’s northeastern league at rivals Dynamo Berlin, but the club’s sporting achievements have long been eclipsed by their political activity.
In 2014, Babelsberg formed Germany’s first team of refugees, Welcome United 03, who entered the nation’s lowest league the following year, while last year they refused to pay a heavy fine from the Northeast German Soccer Federation after their fans chanted “Nazi pigs out” at Energie Cottbus supporters in response to right-wing chants and Nazi salutes.
Babelsberg eventually paid the fine after a compromise was reached where half went toward their measures against racism and the other half was to be used by the federation for similar measures.
The affair prompted Babelsberg to step up their “Nazis out of the stadiums” campaign, since joined by many other high-profile clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and St Pauli.
Babelsberg’s next game is at Chemie Leipzig today, when the team are to wear the Seebruecke jerseys for the first time.
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
RSS