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FOOTBALL

Football club condemns fans’ Nazi banners

Secomd-tier league football team Erzgebirge Aue has apologised to RB Leipzig and the team's founder, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, after Aue fans displayed a banner showing the Austrian entrepreneur in Nazi uniform.

Football club condemns fans' Nazi banners
A banner reads: "An Austrian calls and you follow blind, every child knows how that ended. You would have made good Nazis". Photo: DPA

Aue won 2-0 at home on Friday in Germany's second tier Bundesliga against ambitious RB Leipzig, who are also sponsored by Austrian energy drink company Red Bull.

But home fans marred the victory by displaying several derogatory banners aimed at Mateschitz and his club.

Seventh-placed RB Leipzig is hoping for promotion to Germany's top tier this year, but is unpopular with German football fans due to the millions of euros invested by the drinks company into the team.

"Out of Austria, only the best for Germany," read the text on one banner, under a drawing of Mateschitz dressed in a Nazi uniform, referring to Austrian-born Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Another read: "An Austrian calls and you follow blind, every child knows how that ended. You would have made good Nazis," aimed at the RB Leipzig club.

Aue are likely to be fined by the German Football Association (DFB), who are expected to investigate the matter.

"It's a mess, we strongly distance ourselves from the banners," Aue's president Helge Leonhardt said in a club statement. "Three points won, but in the end a lot of prestige and recognition lost!"

The club put out an official statement distancing themselves from the banners.

"We condemn these banners in the strongest possible terms," it read.

"We want nothing to do with people who bring these banners and signs, with such despicable content, into our stadium.

"A minority of fans ensured that there was a nasty taste left after a successful evening for Erzgebirge Aue.

"We want to apologise to RB Leipzig for this."

With reporting by Rosie Waites at TheLocal.at

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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