Antonio Rudiger attached his picture to a supplication to welcome the holy month of Ramadan, “May God accept our fasting and prayers” (Agencies)
German star Antonio Rudiger and the German Football Association took legal action after the Muslim player was linked to a terrorist organization by Julian Reichelt, the former editor of the German newspaper Bild.
Earlier this month, Rudiger posted a picture of himself on Instagram wearing a white robe on a prayer rug, pointing with the index finger of his right hand towards the sky, and accompanied the picture with a supplication to welcome the holy month of Ramadan: “May God accept our fasting and prayers.”
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A post shared by Antonio Rüdiger (@toniruediger)
But Rüdiger was subjected to a humiliating accusation by the former editor of Bild newspaper, Julian Reichelt, who wrote on his account on the “X” network that what Rüdiger is doing in the photo is a distinctive sign of a terrorist organization.
He commented, "For everyone who does not want to recognize Antonio Rudiger's greeting as an Islamic greeting, I say that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution calls this gesture the 'ISIS finger', and sees the index finger as a clear sign of Islamism."
So we have this in the Middle East, with Antonio Rüdiger and the DFB, there is another one, we have a lot of fun with gemachts, we have Rüdiger on his Instagram-post on this Islamist page. This message is in your home language of terror… pic.twitter.com/6fX1GYN4VR
— Julian Reichelt (@jreichelt) March 25, 2024
Subsequently, Rüdiger filed a criminal complaint with the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the German Football Association also reported the case to the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime, affiliated with the Main Public Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt.
When Rudiger was asked yesterday evening, Monday, he said that he did not want to comment despite the Real Madrid star’s feeling of slander and slander.
On the other hand, the journalist stuck to his point of view, after he wrote another post in “X” late yesterday evening, in which he said, “Even when it comes to a famous national player in particular, you cannot allow yourself to be intimidated.”
He added, "The raised Islamic index finger, which terrorists around the world celebrate by killing, does not belong to Germany. I will not let anyone stop me from saying that."
He continued, "What Antonio Rudiger and the German Football Association are using are intimidation methods."
The German newspaper Bild, which published the first report on this issue, quoted the German Interior Ministry as saying that Rüdiger's gesture "should be understood as a case of faith that does not represent a problem in terms of public safety."
Rudiger is currently with the German national team in preparation for facing the Netherlands tonight.
Source: British press