The Geman Football Team for the Olympics decided to walk off the field in a friendly kickoff against Honduras. Jordan Torunarigha was allegedly racially abused.
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He’s one of the finest defenders of the team. The match between the two was a warm-up for their Olympics campaign, which starts against Brazil on Thursday, 22 July.
Germany’s Olympic soccer team walked off the field during a preparation match in response to alleged racist abuse from an opposing Honduras player toward defender Jordan Torunarigha. #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/3TEvLjW8oz
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 17, 2021
German football team responds
The German football team decided to leave the field, 5 minutes before the game ended. Consequently, the 3 thirty-minute periods did not resume thus, the game ended 1-1.
Moreover, the German Head Coach Stefan Kuntz defended his 23-year-old squad member by saying, “When one of our players is racially abused, playing on is not an option,” told DFB’s Twitter account.
💬 Stefan #Kuntz: "When one of our players is racially abused, playing on is not an option."#WirfuerD #GERHON pic.twitter.com/nQBfmZf4To
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) July 17, 2021
The Honduras Football Federation commented on Twitter. The situation was down to a “misunderstanding on the pitch.”
Last year, in February, Torunarigha reacted to alleged monkey chants from Schalke fans during a German Cup loss. Hence, he had to leave the field.
In the same match, Torunarigha decided to pick up a water bottle carrier and slammed it to the ground. Jordan had to leave the game as he was given a red card for showing offensive behavior.
WATCH STORY– Olympic Games: Germany walk off the pitch after Jordan Torunarigha allegedly racially abused
“It was hard to get him in, he was terribly upset because he said he was repeatedly racially abused. For us it’s clear, this violates our values, we cannot tolerate it. We’ll take our player completely under our protection.”?
Torunarigha’s club,?Hertha Berlin, responded by saying “that’s the only correct decision!”
Friendly match between Germans and Brazil
“After the situation calmed down a bit, the whole Honduras team came over to us on the bench and apologized,” Kuntz said. “That was the end of the matter for us.” Germany captain Maximilian Arnold said that the team discussed taking the matter further but decided otherwise.
“We made a correct statement, we made the right decisions and acted correctly. It was also Jordan’s wish. He said that we should leave it at that,” Arnold said.
The friendly game in Wakayama, Japan was Germany’s last preparation match before it plays Brazil in Yokohama on Thursday. Kuntz’s team also plays Saudi Arabia on July 25 and Ivory Coast on July 28 in Group D.
