Freiburg's Streich demands clear stance against far-right extremism

Freiburg coach Christian Streich has called on professional football and its fans to take part in the nationwide demonstrations against right-wing extremism.

"If you don't stand up now, you haven't understood anything. Everyone in this country is called upon to stand up and take a very clear stance among their families, at work or anywhere else. Standing up, unmistakably, with a very clear position. Nothing else," he said on Thursday when asked his opinion on the role of football and its fans in the protest against right-wing extremism.

Streich himself participated in a rally in Freiburg on Wednesday. he stressed that not only football fans are citizens, but also coaches and top officials.

Everyone in Germany must take responsibility and nobody should "complain afterwards when they are governed by an authoritarian, right-wing nationalist group."

"I've been living in a democracy as a free person for 58 years. That's an incredible stroke of luck. There are only a few people of this age in the world who can live so freely," he said.

Germany has seen a surge of demonstrations against the far-right after an investigative report said that right-wing extremists and politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had met to discuss plans for the deportation of millions of migrants from Germany.

The media outlet Correctiv said it had uncovered details of a meeting in a Potsdam villa in November attended by senior officials with the AfD, some conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) members and members of the arch conservative Werteunion group.

RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose also sees the demonstrations as an important sign for society.

"I think it's very important to stand up against stupidity and right-wing extremism in any form," he said in a news conference on Thursday.

Rose said that the AfD "sends out relatively clear signals and has roots that you can't simply deny. And you can't tolerate or accept that, because if you overlook stupidity for too long, then it can become dangerous."

Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, meanwhile, avoided speaking publicly about political matters.

"Personally, I'm ready to open up on all sorts of topics. Maybe there will come a time when I say: Now is the moment when I want to influence society with my opinion," he said in a news conference on Thursday.

"But we haven't reached that point yet. Christian (Streich) has been around a few more years," he added.

"Perhaps one or two coaches would like to keep the focus on sport. My job is to train the team and be successful. But that doesn't mean that I also don't see this as an opportunity to reach out to many people."