Flashback: Once upon the time, 2014, the DFB (German football association) required the FC St. Pauli to “neutralise” their grounds as they were having the national team as guests for training before their friendly against Poland. As far as the club understood the thing, that meant obscuring all the sponsor ads, fair enough. The DFB interpreted it differently: Also any and all political slogans shall be obscured, and St. Pauli, famously, sports a big “Kein Fußball den Faschisten” in the stadium, installed permanently. (“No football for fascists” – as in they’re not supposed to have any at all, not this football isn’t for them). The DFB then improvised and, with limited means, covered the slogan to read “no football”. It was a draw, nil nil. Uninspired, one might say.
Flashback: Once upon the time, 2014, the DFB (German football association) required the FC St. Pauli to “neutralise” their grounds as they were having the national team as guests for training before their friendly against Poland. As far as the club understood the thing, that meant obscuring all the sponsor ads, fair enough. The DFB interpreted it differently: Also any and all political slogans shall be obscured, and St. Pauli, famously, sports a big “Kein Fußball den Faschisten” in the stadium, installed permanently. (“No football for fascists” – as in they’re not supposed to have any at all, not this football isn’t for them). The DFB then improvised and, with limited means, covered the slogan to read “no football”. It was a draw, nil nil. Uninspired, one might say.