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.
Taiwan’s men’s A team last night defeated their counterpart B team 82-77 in their first showdown in the William Jones Cup at New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang Gymnasium. With four wins under their belt, Taiwan’s A squad — also known as the blue team, consisting of the national team’s main roster — lead the tournament, while Malaysia and the Philippines Strong Group-Pilipinas, who were not scheduled to play last night, are both undefeated with three wins each. Taiwanese-American teenager Robert Hinton, playing in his first William Jones Cup, led the scoring early in the first quarter, putting up nine points for the A
A chance encounter during a drunken night out was the unlikely catalyst for breaker Sunny Choi’s journey to the Paris Olympic Games. The 35-year-old American is to showcase her skills before a global audience in Paris when breaking makes its debut on the Olympic stage. Choi is the beneficiary of efforts to attract younger fans to the Olympics, a move that led to breaking’s inclusion for the first time. However, as Choi says, the Olympics was the last thing on her mind when she took up the sport. A freshman student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Choi stumbled into breaking
Teenage gymnast Shoko Miyata has been pulled from Japan’s team for the Paris Olympics after being caught smoking and drinking, officials said yesterday. The 19-year-old, a world bronze medalist and captain of Japan’s women’s gymnastics team for the Games, was sent home from their training camp in Monaco and admitted she had violated the squad’s code of conduct. “With her confirmation and after discussions on all sides, it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics,” Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA) secretary-general Kenji Nishimura told reporters in Tokyo. Nishimura said the association had been told that Miyata was seen smoking in a
Country singer Ingrid Andress on Tuesday apologized and said she was drunk after a widely panned performance of the US national anthem at the MLB Home Run Derby. “I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need,” she wrote on Instagram. “That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition.” The MLB is not commenting, spokesperson Matt Bourne said. On Monday night, the four-time Grammy nominee belted an a cappella version of The Star-Spangled Banner, an incredibly challenging song to sing. Clips of her less-than-popular