'The Mediterranean Mentality'
In summarising a popular stereotype, journalist Klaus Walter writes: "Every fine dribbling run is down to their mentality, every complaint to the referee is attributable to their Arab temperament, every failure to pass the ball and every brilliant backheel, it's all in their genes. The ethnic net is cast over every action (or lack of action, lazy Arabs).
People happily resort to arguments such as these whenever players with Turkish, Italian, Greek or African roots 'go over the top'. When and why such limits are exceeded is still a matter for the majority in society to decide. Issues from the point of view of the migrant are often left untouched.
Football is becoming an outlet for the problems of daily life, which can put special pressure on people with migrant backgrounds. Many use football as a simple, yet spectacular way of showing that they are someone, too. Here, on the pitch, they are able to show the Germans what's what. On both sides it is primarily the men who turn football into a surrogate battle.
Games against clubs with a migrant background quickly assume the character of an international match: "Today we're playing Turkey." In this way ethnic-based clubs are loaded with clichés and prejudices from everyday life. Those who see ethnic-based clubs as a threat should try and put themselves in their shoes for once to gain an idea of just how threatening and foreign things can seem to a migrant, not only in football.
"Many clubs would have to close their youth sections were it not for the immigrants."
(Peter Lange, Ruhr University, Bochum)