Joshua Kimmich slams ‘racist’ survey about nationwide workforce

Joshua Kimmich has hit out at a poll which said that 21 per cent of Germans want more white players in the national team.

The shocking survey was conducted on behalf of WDR as part of broadcaster ARD’s ‘United and Justice and Diversity – The National Team between Racism and Identification’ documentary.

The documentary – which will be released on June 5 – looks at the changing dynamic of the German national team over the years and speaks to current and former players about their experiences with racism.

And, following the revelations that 21 per cent of Germans would rather more white players be in the team, Kimmich slammed the premise behind the survey, along with the results, after 1,304 people took part in it.

‘This hasn’t been a topic within the team itself,’ he said on Saturday at a press conference.

Joshua Kimmich has hit out at a harrowing poll which said that 21 per cent of Germans ‘want more white players’ in the national team, labelling it ‘absolutely racist’ and ‘nonsense’

The poll was released just under two weeks before Germany start their Euro 2024 campaign

‘Anyone who grew up in football knows that it’s absolute nonsense. Football unites people of different skin colours and religions, and that’s what it’s all about. 

‘I would miss a lot of players if they weren’t here. So that’s absolutely racist. Such a survey is absolutely counterproductive.’

Kimmich also took umbrage at the timing of the survey, which comes fewer than two weeks before Germany begin their home Euro 2024 campaign.  

‘When you consider that we are facing a European Championship at home, it is absurd to ask such a question when the aim is to unite the whole country (and we want) to achieve great things together,’ he added.  

‘As a team, we are trying everything to get everyone in Germany behind us. A survey like this is absolutely counterproductive.’

It must be noted that 65 per cent of respondents in the survey either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement of wanting more white players in the team.

However, another harrowing revelation saw 17 per cent of those polled view it as ‘a shame’ that Ilkay Gundogan, who was born in Germany but has Turkish roots, is captain of the national team. 

The Barcelona midfielder was named as skipper by former boss Hansi Flick in September 2023 and will lead Germany throughout the Euros.

Meanwhile, within the documentary, Jonathan Tah, Gerald Asamoah and Shkodran Mustafi opened up about their experiences of racism in the German game.

Another revelation saw 17 per cent view it as ‘a shame’ that Ilkay Gundogan is Germany captain

Kimmich however, insisted the poll had not been discussed within Julian Nagelsmann’s squad

Asomah, who was born in Ghana but made 43 appearances for Germany, explained what life for him was like as a young player at Hannover 96 when he played in Cottbus in 1997.

‘The players were also very aggressive,’ he said. ‘They insulted me below the belt, and the N-word was used 1,000 times. That was just normal.’

Meanwhile, Mustafi, who has Albanian and Macedonian heritage, discussed the extra pressure he felt he was under when he was playing.

He added: ‘(People are observing) Who sings the national anthem? Who doesn’t sing it? Are you integrated, are you not integrated? Are you grateful to be able to play for Germany or not?’