Ivory Coast manager Emerse Fae has labelled remarks made by former German international Bastian Schweinsteiger as 'racist' after Schweinsteiger described the team's playing style as 'wild African football.'
Schweinsteiger, speaking as a commentator before Germany's 2-1 World Cup victory over Ivory Coast, had stated that Fae's team was 'not conditioned by tactics' and played in an 'unorthodox and wild' manner, suggesting Germany should prepare for an unpredictable game.
Following Ivory Coast's historic qualification for the World Cup knockout stages for the first time, Fae expressed his disappointment with Schweinsteiger's comments. "I think it's sad. Schweinsteiger was a very good player... When I heard his comments, I was disappointed in the man. It is odd he would speak that way. We could call it racist, if we were calling a spade a spade," Fae said.
Fae added that while he doesn't agree with the assessment, he hopes the remarks were a clumsy statement rather than indicative of a prejudiced mindset. "All I can show is that on the pitch African teams are not just physical, we are technical and tactical," he stated.
Schweinsteiger's comments, made on the German platform ARD, also drew a strong reaction from former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. When asked about the incident during a separate interview, Klopp appeared visibly frustrated and refused to comment, stating, "No, no - I have no chance to answer this question... It's not my job that everybody likes it but it is a serious subject and I don't even know what is appropriate to say."
Critics, including Black German journalist and author Philipp Awounou, have pointed to the historical context of such descriptions. Awounou told Der Spiegel that terms like 'wild' and 'unpredictable' carry racist and colonial roots, referencing past stigmatization of Black Africans as uncivilized. While Awounou stated Schweinsteiger was not a racist, he described the comments as 'problematic.' German content creator Patrick Schnitzler also characterized Schweinsteiger's remarks as 'racial stereotypes.'