Eintracht Frankfurt supports the ‘Kein Platz für Rassismus!’ (‘No Room for Racism!’) campaign, which was launched in response to recurring xenophobic incidents at German football grounds.
Tolerance and solidarity are values that belong in sports of every kind. After Nigerian player Adebobawe Ogungbure was abused by fans because of the colour of his skin, Ogungbure’s fellow professionals Daniel Gunkel (FSV Mainz 05) and Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke 04) decided to make a clear stand against xenophobia, and launched the campaign in collaboration with the Frankfurt football magazine ZICO. On 1 March 2007, Ioannis Amanatidis, Eintracht first-team captain, and Patrick Meyer, managing director of the Commerzbank Arena, put up the first signing reading ‘Kein Platz für Rassismus!’ at the Commerzbank Arena. On 15 January 2008, the registered association ‘Kein Platz für Rassismus!’ e.V. was established in Frankfurt.
Its success has vindicated the founders. Extending far beyond the borders of Frankfurt, every sports field in Germany is to be provided with a sign bearing the slogan, which will be affixed to the respective sports facility by club representatives and players, and documented with a photo. But that is not all. The association ‘Kein Platz für Rassismus!’ e.V. supports, for example, the ‘Soccer for Peace’ project, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 in Israel. Jewish and Arab children, who otherwise live in separate settlements, are brought together on the football field to cultivate a feeling for each other's lives in addition to playing sports.
The ambassadors
United action against xenophobia strengthens the campaign. Since the beginning of ‘Kein Platz für Rassismus!’, the initiative has been supported by athletes, celebrities, committed individuals and footballers such as Benjamin Köhler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Faton Toski (Eintracht Frankfurt) as well as former Eintracht player Karl-Heinz "Charly" Körbel. "I hope that all people who hear about this campaign - especially those who are not affected by racism - take courage, don't look away and take active action against racism," said Bakary Diakité, whose goals in the 6-3 win over SSV Reutlingen in 2003 were pivotal to Eintracht Frankfurt’s promotion back to the Bundesliga. Diakité has been an ambassador from the very beginning.
Juvhel Tsoumou, a former U19 player at Eintracht Frankfurt, was also an ambassador for the cause and sponsor of the first sign at the school in Bad Vilbel.