- The German club has rejected any claims of racism from Liverpool players
- The Reds complained last week about racist language in a youth match
- Liverpool players also left the field after alleged assaults against Frankfurt
Bundesliga club Hoffenheim have rejected an accusation of racism by Liverpool, saying they believe a German slang word may have been misheard.
The Reds allege racist language was used in a youth match against Hoffenheim last Friday and in a match in the same tournament against Eintracht Frankfurt the following day.
Hoffenheim said they took the accusation very seriously but “firmly rejected its content”.
“There is no racist discrimination in the youth academy of TSG (Hoffenheim) and there has never been any in the past,” the club said in a statement.
‘We have many players of different ethnicities in our youth academy who compete with each other in the sport. There may be disagreements here and there, but there is absolutely no racism among the TSG players.
An accusation of racism by Liverpool has been rejected by Bundesliga club Hoffenheim
The Reds alleged racist language was used in a youth match against Hoffenheim last Friday and in a match in the same event against Eintracht Frankfurt the following day
‘The accused player and surrounding teammates have told us that the alleged statement was not made. Analysis of our video recording has also yielded nothing.
‘However, together with our team of psychologists and child protection services, we are carefully processing the incident.
‘A possible explanation for the origin of this accusation and the fact that it was repeated against Frankfurt could be the fact that the German slang word ‘Digga’ (roughly equivalent to ‘Bro’ in English) is phonetically similar to the swear word allegedly used.’
Hoffenheim said they would not name the accused players.
Frankfurt’s sporting director Timmo Hardung gave a similar explanation to the German newspaper Bild, adding: “We have clear values that we live by and constantly demand. Racism has no place here, but we still take such an accusation seriously.”
Liverpool players left the pitch when the alleged abuse took place.
A statement from the club on Saturday said: ‘Liverpool FC can confirm that a member of our under-18s team has reported being racially abused by an opponent during the Bundesliga Cup youth tournament at Schwabisch Hall in Germany on Friday.
Hoffenheim believe Liverpool youth players misheard German slang word
‘The player immediately alerted the match director, his teammates and our coaching staff. Subsequently, the LFC management team decided to abandon the match and leave the pitch together.
‘In another incident, the same player was the target of abuse during a match in the tournament today. Once again, the player alerted his teammates and coaching staff and our management team decided to leave the field once again.
‘We are proud of our player for his quick actions in reporting the incident and the maturity of his response. He and his affected teammates are being supported by the Academy safeguarding team.
‘The club calls on our opponents and the tournament organizers to conduct an urgent and thorough investigation into the incident.’