A senior German politician has apologised for the way she worded a comment about the skin colour of members of the country’s football team, in which she praised them and asked what it would be like if there were only white players.

Green MP Katrin Göring-Eckardt, who is also the deputy leader of the German federal parliament, appeared to be referring to a recent survey that found 21% of respondents would prefer to see more white people in Germany’s squad.

“This team is truly exceptional. Just imagine if there were only white German players,” she wrote after Germany beat Hungary 2-0 in the Euro 2024 tournament. She also added three rainbow emojis.

But after criticism on social media, including from fellow MPs, Ms Göring-Eckardt deleted the post and apologised for the way it was phrased.

She later took to X, formerly Twitter, again to explain herself.

“It upset me that 21% of Germans would prefer it if there were more “whites” in the national team,” Ms Göring-Eckardt wrote.

“I’m proud of this team and hope that we can convince the 21% too.”

Ms Göring-Eckardt’s original post was quickly criticised, with some accusing her of racism despite the fact she was praising the team’s diversity.

“I find it really worrying when people in Germany are judged by the colour of their skin,” said Wolfgang Kubicki, the deputy leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which is part of Germany’s coalition government alongside the Greens.

Manuel Ostermann from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party also commented.

“Are you judging people based on their appearance? According to your own definition, that would be racist,” he said.

The survey Ms Göring-Eckardt was responding to was commissioned by Sport Inside, which airs on German public broadcaster WDR.

It was part of a documentary on racial diversity within the national team and how it is viewed by the public.

Player Joshua Kimmich described the survey as “racist” when it was first reported earlier this month, while coach Julian Nagelsmann said it was “insane”.

“We play a Euro for everyone in the country and whoever plays top football is invited to be a national team member,” Mr Nagelsmann said.

“I hope I never have to read such crap polls again.”

Source: BBC

Former Arsenal and Everton striker Kevin Campbell has died at the age of 54 after a short illness.

Campbell scored 148 goals in 542 appearances across spells with eight clubs during his career.

Everton said earlier this month he became ill in May and was “very unwell” in hospital.

“We are devastated to learn that our former striker Kevin Campbell has died after a short illness,” said Arsenal.

“Kevin was adored by everyone at the club. All of us are thinking of his friends and family at this difficult time. Rest in peace, Kevin.”

Everton said: “Everyone at Everton is deeply saddened by the death of our former striker Kevin Campbell at the age of just 54.

“Not just a true Goodison Park hero and icon of the English game, but an incredible person as well – as anyone who ever met him will know. RIP, Super Kev.”

Source: BBC

Clinical Germany thumped Scotland 5-1 in their Euro 2024 tournament opener on Friday with the host nation scoring three first-half goals and enjoying a man advantage after Ryan Porteous received a straight red card before the break.

Florian Wirtz opened the scoring in the 10th minute when he connected with a cross that goalkeeper Angus Gunn could only palm against the post and watch helplessly as it rolled into the net during a match in which Germany dominated possession.

The three-times European champions doubled their lead in the 19th minute at the Munich Football Arena after a series of passes ended with Kai Havertz picking out Jamal Musiala who took a touch in the area and fired into the roof of the net.

It went from bad to worse for Scotland when Porteous was sent off for a foul on Ilkay Gundogan in the penalty area with Havertz converting from the spot to make it 3-0. Substitute Niclas Fuellkrug fired home a fourth late in the second half.

Scotland did get on the scoresheet late in the match through an Antonio Rudiger own goal before Emre Can rounded out the scoring for the hosts. Germany next play Hungary in Group A while Scotland must regroup to take on Switzerland.

Source: Reuters

Borussia Dortmund have parted company with manager Edin Terzic after he asked the club “to terminate his contract with immediate effect”.

Dortmund reached the Champions League final in 2023-24 under Terzic but they were beaten by Real Madrid at Wembley.

The German club said they agreed to Terzic’s request following “a joint discussion”.

“After the game at Wembley, I asked for a meeting with the club’s senior management team, because after nine years at BVB – including six on the coaching staff and two and a half as head coach – I feel that the club’s new era should begin with a new man on the touchline,” said Terzic, 41.

“Everyone close to me knows that this has been a very difficult decision for me to take over the last few weeks, but after intensive discussions my fundamental feeling has not changed.

“I wish Borussia Dortmund the very best, thank you and see you soon.”

Terzic began his coaching career with Dortmund’s academy between 2010 and 2013 before becoming Slaven Bilic’s assistant at Turkish club Besiktas.

He followed Bilic to Premier League side West Ham in 2015 but left following the Croatian’s sacking in November 2017, re-joining Dortmund as Lucien Favre’s assistant the following year.

Following Favre’s dismissal in December 2020, Terzic was named interim boss until the end of that season and led the club to German Cup final success with victory over RB Leipzig.

He then had a stint as the club’s technical director before becoming their manager in 2022.

Dortmund finished runners-up in the Bundesliga last season – missing out on the title after failing to beat Mainz on the final day of the campaign – and followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the 2023-24 campaign, which achieved qualification for next season’s Champions League.

“Edin Terzic has done an outstanding job in his time at BVB, and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude,” said Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke.

“Edin and I will always remain friends.”

Source: BBC

Poland captain Robert Lewandowski will miss his country’s Euro 2024 opener this weekend with a thigh injury, the Polish football federation’s doctor said on Tuesday.

Lewandowski, 35, will be absent to face the Netherlands on June 16 after suffering the injury in Monday’s 2-1 win in a friendly against Turkey.

Poland then play Austria on June 21 and the tournament’s joint favourites France four days later.

“We are doing everything so that Robert can play in the second match against Austria,” doctor Jacek Jaroszewski said in a statement.

Barcelona forward Lewandowski was substituted after just 33 minutes on his 150th international appearance as Poland ended their Euro 2024 preparations with a victory.

Following the game, Poland coach Michal Probierz had been upbeat about Lewandowski’s injury, saying he was “optimistic” and “there shouldn’t be a problem”.

The absence of the former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich player adds to the injury worries for Probierz.

Hellas Verona attacker Karol Swiderski sustained an ankle injury while celebrating the opening goal against Turkey.

Swiderski’s club team-mate, defender Pawel Dawidowicz, strained his quadriceps during the game.

“After treatment, both players should return to full training within 3-4 days,” Jaroszewski.

Probierz will be without another striker for the tournament after Arkadiusz Milik suffered a knee injury in the warmup victory against Ukraine on Friday.

The Italian club said Milik had undergone minor surgery, without stating the length of his absence.

Probierz’s fit options in attack in his squad are Istanbul Basaksehir’s Krzysztof Piatek and Antalyaspor’s Adam Buksa.

The pair have 17 goals in 44 appearances for their country.

Poland are unbeaten in eight games and have the reached the past three European Championship finals, making it to the quarter-finals in 2016.

Source: AFP

Claudio Ranieri waved goodbye to Cagliari and brought the curtain down on a near four-decade club coaching career with Thursday’s 3-2 defeat to Fiorentina cruelly inflicted in the 13th minute of added time.

Arthur stroked home Fiorentina’s winning goal from the penalty spot after Luca Beltran earned the away side, who trailed 2-1 in the 85th minute, a soft spot-kick given after a long VAR check.

Fiorentina won and ensured European football with the last kick of Ranieri’s last match in charge of Cagliari, ahead of next week’s Europa Conference League final with Olympiakos.

Former Premier League winner Ranieri has now effectively retired even if he admitted in an interview with Sky in Italy that he would be interested in a national team job.

However Thursday’s defeat made little difference to Ranieri or Cagliari as last weekend he saved from relegation the same club he brought up from Serie B last season and with whom he rose to prominence in the late 1980s.

Ranieri began his managerial career in amateur football in 1986 but turned heads by guiding Cagliari to Serie A with two successive promotions in 1989 and 1990.

“What we managed to do, we did together,” said Ranieri in a short post-match speech on the pitch.

“I asked for your help a year and a half ago because only with you could we do what we did.”

Ranieri welled up on the sidelines ahead of kick-off as fans chanted his name and a standing ovation rolled around the stands, while a banner was unfurled which read “Eternal gratitude to a great man”.

And afterwards he hugged his players and family in front of a crowd which roared in appreciation of one of Italian football’s most beloved figures.

The 72-year-old said that his decision to quit had been made with a “heavy heart”, worrying that he would tarnish two brilliant spells nearly 40 years apart with Cagliari by staying on.

Ranieri had offered to quit following just three points from the first nine matches of the season.

Life lessons

But the club and players convinced him to stay and survival was dedicated to Ranieri, who has been frequently hailed by his team as an inspiration.

“He’s taught us things that are valuable not just on the pitch, but in life in general,” said Gianluca Lapadula to DAZN pre-match.

“If you don’t fight for your teammate, the man next to you, you’ll never go anywhere.”

Ranieri is most famous for winning the Premier League with Leicester City in 2016 but is a popular figure at a host of clubs even if he has only won a handful of major honours in his career.

An Italian Cup with Fiorentina and three trophies with Valencia go alongside his heart-warming English championship win eight years ago.

Ranieri brought Gianfranco Zola through to replace Diego Maradona at Napoli in the early 1990s and then coached the Sardinia native, by that time an Italy international, a decade later at Chelsea.

He managed Chelsea with the London outfit on the verge of bankruptcy and took them to the Champions League in 2003, after which the Blues were taken over by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Ranieri then reached the semi-finals of Europe’s top club competition the following year before being replaced by Jose Mourinho.

He did battle with Mourinho while in charge of his boyhood team Roma in 2009/2010, at the helm as the capital club came close to snatching the Serie A title from eventual treble-winners Inter Milan on the final day of the season.

And Cagliari will stay in Serie A for at least one more season thanks to Ranieri who ended an eventful career back where it really started 36 years ago.

Source: AFP

Bayern Munich are close to completing a shock move for Burnley boss Vincent Kompany to replace Thomas Tuchel as coach, German and English media reported on Wednesday.

According to German tabloid Bild and network Sky, along with English newspaper The Guardian, the Belgian has reached an agreement in principle with Bayern.

As a result, the German club is now working on a compensation package for Burnley, where Kompany still has four years on his contract.

Burnley have just been relegated from the Premier League after only one season in the English top flight.

Bayern agreed to part ways with Tuchel in February after falling behind eventual champions Bayer Leverkusen in the title race.

Kompany is the latest candidate in a long list linked to Bayern.

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso, Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann and Austria manager Ralf Rangnick all reportedly turned down Bayern’s interest.

Bayern then attempted to hold onto Tuchel, who led them to a Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid. Tuchel, however, said the parties “could not reach an agreement” on him staying in the Bavarian capital.

Kompany has Bundesliga experience, having played at Hamburg before joining Manchester City.

He took the reins of Burnley in 2022, taking them to the Premier League as second-division champions a season later.

Kompany however could not keep Burnley in the top division, with the club relegated in 19th place in the 20-team league.

Source: AFP

Ademola Lookman scored a stunning hat-trick as Atalanta ended Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-match unbeaten run to win the Europa League final 3-0 on Wednesday and claim their first trophy for 61 years.

Lookman became the first player to score a hat-trick in a European final since 1975 to secure Atalanta’s first ever continental trophy.

“One of the best nights of my life. Amazing performance from the team,” said Lookman.

“We’ve got to celebrate, we made history tonight.”

The side from Bergamo have long lived in the shadow of nearby giants AC and Inter Milan.

However, they have enjoyed a golden era under Gian Piero Gasperini, reaching the Champions League on four occasions, and now have silverware to show for it.

Leverkusen have made a habit of late fightbacks in their remarkable run to winning a first ever Bundesliga title without tasting defeat.

But this time they failed to dig themselves out of a hole created by a slow start.

“It’s a shame that the time it didn’t work out for us was in a final,” said Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka.

“It’s bitter, definitely, we lost a final today but we go on and we’ll make up for it on Saturday (in the German Cup final).

Atalanta’s more purposeful play in the opening stages was rewarded after just 12 minutes.

Davide Zappacosta got to the by-line and Lookman caught Exequiel Palacios napping to fire into the top corner at the back post.

The Nigerian has at times endured a nomadic career, bouncing around the lower reaches of the Premier League on loan spells at Fulham and Leicester after being discarded by RB Leipzig.

But Lookman has found a home in Bergamo, where he will now forever be a hero.

Drained Leverkusen

The 26-year-old’s second goal was fit to win any final as he nutmegged Xhaka before curling a powerful shot into the far corner.

Leverkusen’s flying full-backs have been at the heart of their stunning season and should have got them back in the game either side of half-time.

Alex Grimaldo fired tamely into the arms of Juan Musso before Jeremie Frimpong blazed over with the goal gaping.

Leverkusen were also denied a lifeline when Gianluca Scamacca was lucky to escape with a yellow card for wild challenge on Florian Wirtz.

For the fourth time in seven Europa League knockout matches, Xabi Alonso’s men found themselves 2-0 down.

Alonso has enjoyed a rapid rise to become one of Europe’s hottest coaching properties.

The Spaniard has rejected the advances of former clubs Liverpool and Bayern Munich to remain at the BayArena next season.

However, Alonso’s decision to start without a recognised striker did not work and he threw on Victor Boniface at half-time to give his side a focal point up front.

The damage, though, was already done as the German champions looked a side drained by their record run across three competitions.

Atalanta were happy to soak up the Leverkusen pressure after the break and hit on the counter-attack.

The final blow was another fabulous finish from Lookman as he skipped past Edmond Tapsoba and this time blasted into the top corner on his weaker left foot.

Atalanta had lost all three of their previous finals under Gasperini, most recently in last week’s Coppa Italia defeat to Juventus.

But this time they were not to be denied their shot at history as they were roared across the finishing line by the thousands clad in blue and black that had made the trip from northern Italy to the Irish capital.

In doing so they became the first Italian side to win the competition since Parma lifted the UEFA Cup in 1999.

Source: AFP

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has left the club by mutual consent after one season at Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino, 52, took charge of Chelsea on 1 July, signing a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.

The Argentine was under pressure after an underwhelming first half of the season but a run of five successive wins to end the season ensured they finished sixth in the Premier League.

Chelsea were also runners-up in the Carabao Cup and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

“Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity,” Pochettino said.

“The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”

Chelsea will now search for a successor and have expressed recent interest in Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna, Sporting’s Ruben Amorim and Burnley’s Vincent Kompany.

BBC Sport understands Chelsea are unlikely to go for Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca, a former assistant coach with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. A return for former managers Jose Mourinho or Thomas Tuchel is not on the cards as the club targets a young head coach.

Pochettino was Chelsea’s sixth permanent manager in five years, following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, which led to Frank Lampard taking charge on a temporary basis at the end of the 2022-23 season.

“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season,” sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said.

“He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”

Coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also left.

Source: BBC

Aston Villa have qualified for the Champions League for the first time after top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur lost to Manchester City on Tuesday.

Tottenham had been the only team who could have overtaken Villa into fourth before Tuesday, but are now five points behind Unai Emery’s side with one game remaining.

Villa have not reached Uefa’s premier club competition since it rebranded from the European Cup to the Champions League in 1991-92.

They last played in the European Cup 41 years ago in 1982-83 having won the competition the season before.

Villa did finish second and fourth in the Premier League in 1992-93 and 1995-96 respectively, but in both those seasons only first was good enough to reach the Champions League.

Source: BBC