NEW YORK (AP) — World Cup pundit and former Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp broke off an interview after being asked about former Germany player Bastian Schweinsteiger’s racist characterizations about the Ivory Coast’s team’s style of play.
“A bit African football, a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, a bit perhaps also not so conditioned by tactics. We have to be prepared for it to be unpredictable,” Schweinsteiger said as a commentator on German broadcaster ARD before Germany played Ivory Coast last weekend.
Klopp, who’s working for broadcaster Magenta, seemed taken aback when asked about Schweinsteiger’s comments by Deutsche Welle in a huddle with journalists in New York on Wednesday.
“Now you want to carry on the subject,” Klopp responded. “No, no, I have no chance. I have no chance to answer this question. Everybody likes it so you bring me in this situation. It’s not my job that everybody likes it, but this is a serious subject, and I don’t even know what is appropriate to say. For African people it’s one thing, for other people it’s another thing, and I’m not here.”
Klopp said he had felt fortunate to avoid the subject.
“Thank God, I thought, nobody asked me about that. You found a moment. And surprisingly, you are German. That surprised me so much,” he said with irony before leaving.
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