Ivory Coast coach slams ‘racist’ comments made by former Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ivory Coast coach Emerse Faé slammed what he considered were racist comments made about his team by former Germany player Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Schweinsteiger made the comments on German broadcaster ARD before Germany played Ivory Coast last weekend, when he spoke about what the German players could expect from their opponents.

“A bit African football, a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, a bit perhaps also not so conditioned by tactics. We have to be prepared for it to be unpredictable,” Schweinsteiger said.

Faé led Ivory Coast into the World Cup knockout round for the first time in national team history with a 2-0 win over Curaçao on Thursday.

Faé said after the win he hoped Schweinsteiger had made a “clumsy statement that’s not necessarily reflective of what’s in his life.”

“We could call it racist, if we were calling a spade a spade,” Faé said.

Schweinsteiger’s comments were criticized earlier this week as playing into racist stereotypes.

Sports commentator Patrick Schnitzler wrote on Instagram of “racist prejudices that we are all passing on unnoticed,” and journalist Philipp Awounou, who’s Black, wrote in Der Spiegel magazine that the characterizations played on old racist tropes rooted in colonialism. Awounou said he did not think Schweinsteiger is racist.

Faé said the West African team uses smarts and strategy to win just as much as physical toughness to advance this far in the World Cup. He questioned if Schweinsteiger was trying “to create a buzz” in his broadcast career by leaning on outdated racial tropes.

“When I heard his comment, I was disappointed,” Faé said. “Disappointed in the man. It is odd he would speak that way.”

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