German fans chant 'Nazis out!' after racist remark

COLOGNE

Football fans in Germany loudly chanted "Nazis out!" after a racist spectator interrupted a minute's silence for the victims of the Magdeburg attack during Saturday's 3. Liga match between Rot-Weiss Essen and VfB Stuttgart II.

The incident occurred when a 57-year-old German supporter of Essen shouted "Germany is for Germans" during the tribute. Police immediately removed the man from the stadium for his racist remarks.

Authorities later announced that the individual had been banned from attending matches, and an investigation into his actions had been initiated.

Henrik Lerch, the press spokesman for Rot-Weiss Essen, supported the fans’ strong response, saying their stand against racism was appropriate.

The incident followed a deadly attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg last Friday that claimed five lives and injured more than 200 people.

The suspected attacker is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor described as being anti-Islam and a supporter of the far-right and Zionism.

He came to Germany in 2006 and had been working as a psychiatrist in Bernburg, south of Magdeburg.

He shared posts in support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, a far-right party opposed to Muslim immigration, and other anti-Islam groups in Europe.

*Writing by Selcuk Bugra Gokalp