Many clubs position themselves in the context of the many demonstrations against right-wing politics. Alemannia Aachen also commented, but received a lot of flak for its post – and backtracked.

The research by the media company “Correctiv” made waves, and there are currently countless demonstrations against right-wing ideas in Germany.

Alemannia Aachen also felt compelled to respond to repeated requests to participate in demonstrations. The statement drew a lot of criticism. However, Alemannia has since backtracked.

“Of course we are against all forms of hatred, agitation and extremism – no matter what direction it comes from!” the regional league team wrote on social media. However, the club also pointed out that it is not a political organization. It wants to ”connect fans of all nations, religions and democratic opinions.”

On the other hand, they “do not want to take part in demonstrations at which banners with the slogan ‘Kill AFD supporters’ are shown.” The post, signed by the executive committee, supervisory board and management, pointed out that they did not want to take part in the “division of society”.

Even though Alemannia switched off the comment function, the club faced a lot of opposition on social media. Many people on the right of the political spectrum had called Alemannia “courageous” and used the post for their own purposes. This prompted the board to write another letter on Saturday.

Alemannia Aachen explicitly and emphatically distances itself from the AfD. We object to being instrumentalized by this party. We clearly distance ourselves from anyone who wants to appropriate us based on the statement.

Alemannia Aachen

In this, the first statement was described as a mistake that was being dealt with internally. They formally apologized for the “dubiously formulated statement”, the “intention of which was completely different”. In the second post, the current demonstrations were praised as a “contribution to maintaining our free, pluralistic and tolerant society” because they “oppose racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and anti-democratic tendencies”.

In conclusion, Alemannia stated that it “expressly and emphatically distances itself from the AfD”. The club also protested against the “instrumentalization by this party” and distanced itself from “all those who wanted to appropriate us on the basis of the statement”.