Many clubs are positioning themselves against right-wing politics as part of the many demonstrations. Alemannia Aachen also made a statement, but received a lot of backlash for their post – and rowed back.

The research carried out by the media company “Correctiv” made waves, with countless demonstrations against right-wing ideas currently taking place in Germany.

Alemannia Aachen also felt compelled to respond to repeated requests to take part in demonstrations. The statement caused a lot of criticism. However, Alemannia has since rowed back.

“Of course we are against all forms of hatred, agitation and extremism – regardless of where it comes from!” the regional league club wrote on social media. At the same time, however, the club also admitted that it is not a political association. They want to “unite fans of all nations, religions and democratic opinions”.

However, they “do not want to take part in demonstrations where banners with the slogan ‘Kill AFDers’ are displayed.” The statement signed by the presidium, 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 functions, the club faced a lot of headwind on social media. Many people on the political right-wing spectrum described Alemannia as “courageous” and used the post for their own purposes. This prompted the board to issue another letter on Saturday

Alemannia Aachen expressly and emphatically distances itself from the AfD. We reject the instrumentalization by this party. We dissociate ourselves in all clarity from all those who want to appropriate us on the basis of the statement.

Alemannia Aachen

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

Alemannia concluded by stating that it “expressly and emphatically distances itself from the AfD”. The club also rejected the “instrumentalization by this party” and distanced itself from “all those who wanted to appropriate us on the basis of the statement. “