Football clubs boycotting refugee initiative

There are now five German football teams that have decided to snub a planned weekend initiative to welcome refugees, partly blaming its initiator, Germany's top-selling daily "Bild," for their decision. Second division leaders Bochum, Nuremberg and Freiburg joined St. Pauli and Union Berlin late on Thursday in not participating in the initiative. On Friday, second division side Duisburg said they would have "refugees welcome" on their shirts, but not the sleeved logo - which includes a Bild logo. Kaiserslautern released a Facebook post late on Friday afternoon also confirming they too would be opting out.

The German football league DFL had invited all 36 first and second division clubs to join the Bild-initiated campaign titled "we're helping - refugees welcome," with players to wear the logo on the sleeve of their shirts during the weekend's set of fixtures.

St. Pauli said Wednesday they would not join the campaign because they "lend practical and direct aid where it is needed", but Bild's editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann then suggested in a tweet that refugees were not welcome at the Hamburg club.

The tweet drew a furious reaction from fans, not least because of St. Pauli's longstanding tradition as a German club that vehemently opposes far-right tradition and culture.

Nuremberg said they would "refrain from special promotion of the [campaign's] media partner [Bild] because Nuremberg considers the handling of the clubs who have not joined the voluntary action inappropriate."

Bochum bosses Christian Hochstaetter and Wilken Engelbracht said "the sharp reaction from the Bild editorial office after the withdrawal of another club prompted us to show solidarity with the club."

Like St Pauli and Union Berlin, Bochum, Nuremberg and Freiburg also referred to the various efforts they and their fans have undertaken in support of refugees. Bild has come under attack from fans because it is deemed to have created tension in its past reporting on refugees. "It is a shame that some clubs don't support the joint action - it is for a good cause after all," the paper said in the wake of the latest withdrawals.

jh/msh (dpa)