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FC Bundestag team in the plenary session of Parliament
Photo: Studio Kohlmeier / FC Bundestag
The FC Bundestag already had numerous prominent members: ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, ex-Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, ex-Finance Minister Theo Waigel. The parliamentary team sees itself as a cross-party team. However, the decision has now been made to no longer tolerate members of the AfD in the FC Bundestag. Membership in the AfD is not compatible with membership in the FC Bundestag, the general meeting decided on Thursday evening, about which Mahmut Özdemir (SPD) informed. He is captain of the club.
After a debate, a majority of 29 MPs voted in favor, with 11 votes against and 2 abstentions. The board was instructed to initiate the necessary discussions and measures. “The Pioneer” had previously reported on the decision.
According to the team's homepage, the AfD MP Jörn König is currently in the squad. The AfD politicians Petr Bystron, Malte Kaufmann and Wolfgang Wiehle are listed under “Other players”.
“Clearly against any form of nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobic efforts”
According to Özdemir, the FC Bundestag has been dealing with the question of the compatibility of AfD membership in the FC Bundestag since 2017. That year, the club's statutes also stated that the FC Bundestag, as an association of members of the German Bundestag, represented "the values of the free-democratic basic order and the parliamentary system of the Federal Republic of Germany on a non-partisan and inter-party basis." “He stands for cosmopolitanism, international understanding and tolerance and positions himself clearly against all forms of nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobic efforts,” it says.
Membership in the AfD means that every single member agrees to be part of a community that casts doubt on the stated values of the statutes, Özdemir said. He was referring to the report by the media company Correctiv about a meeting of radical right-wingers on November 25th in Potsdam, which was also attended by AfD politicians and individual members of the CDU and the Union of Values.
»Our signal is clear that we in the FC Bundestag will not tolerate members who, as members of the AfD, make a deal with right-wing extremism or at least accept it with approval. This means that every single AfD colleague can consider whether membership in the AfD or membership in the FC Bundestag is more important to them," said Özdemir.
Prominent members, long history
The history of FC Bundestag goes back decades. According to the club's homepage, the club's first game took place on April 12, 1961, against a VIP team from WDR. The players meet every Tuesday during the meeting weeks from March to November. The home stadium is the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin. Games usually take place against other recreational teams, often from constituencies. Games against parliamentarians from Austria, Finland and Switzerland are also planned for May.
Many former members went on to have careers. In addition to Schröder (SPD), Fischer (Greens) and Waigel (CSU), the association names, among others, Franz Josef Jung (CDU), Norbert Lammert (CDU), Franz Müntefering (SPD), Peter Ramsauer (CSU), Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) and Rudolf Scharping (SPD).
ulz/dpa