BERLIN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The German soccer federation (DFB) said on Monday it had launched an investigation into 'racist incidents' at Saturday's Bundesliga match between Alemannia Aachen and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
'During Saturday's match in Aachen, there was racist abuse
directed first from the Aachen fan area at Moenchengladbach's
Brazilian striker Kahe and then from the Moenchengladbach
supporters at Aachen's Zambian player Moses Sichone,' the DFB
said in a statement on its website.
According to German media reports and spokesmen for the two
clubs, referee Michael Weiner had an announcement broadcast in
the stadium at halftime threatening to halt proceedings if the
Aachen fans did not stop chanting 'Asylant', German for asylum
seeker, at Kahe.
After the announcement, the Moenchengladbach fans began
abusing Sichone, the reports and spokesmen said. Aachen won the
match 4-2.
Racism has been a prominent issue in the German media in
recent weeks in the run-up to Sunday's state election in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in which the far-right National
Democratic Party (NPD) won 7.2 percent of the vote.
The DFB last week fined Hansa Rostock's regional league side
20,000 euros ($25,310) after fans chanted racist slogans at
Schalke 04's black striker Gerald Asamoah in a German Cup match.
Rostock is in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Moenchengladbach spokesman Markus Aretz told Reuters on
Monday the club would use its next home match to step up its
campaign against racism.
'This is something that does not belong in a soccer
stadium,' he said. 'We are surprised that our fans were involved
in something like that because we have not had any problems of
that kind before.'
Thorsten Pracht, a spokesman for Alemannia Aachen, said the
club very much regretted what had happened and it fully
supported the action taken by the referee.
The club already had an active campaign against racism in
soccer and this would be intensified in light of Saturday's
incidents, he told Reuters.
The DFB said Weiner had prepared a report on the incidents
for a special investigating committee and both clubs had been
asked to make immediate statements.
Aachen and Moenchengladbach both said they would likely
provide their statements to the DFB on Monday.
