ABSTRACT
Since the 1980s, antisemitism has grown in football in West and East Germany as a means of denigrating competing clubs, fans, and players. Some football stadiums at the time became hotbeds of right-wing positions and neo-Nazism, in which antisemitism was openly spread. These developments laid the foundation for antisemitic behavior that remains a problem in football to this day. Furthermore, antisemitism has taken on new forms of expression in football in recent years. What was the background for this rise? Was it only the rise of the “New Right” who influenced the football scenes in West and East Germany and strengthened the orientation of some fans toward right-wing and neo-Nazi positions? Why does it seem that at that time – and today – there have been special situations in stadiums whereby something could happen and was allowed to happen that would otherwise be sanctioned in society? Why is there a strong link between the devaluation of other fans and antisemitism? What have been and what are the reactions to antisemitism taken by football associations and clubs? This chapter examines (self) justification(s) and common explanations for the use of fans’ antisemitic behavior. And it shows how the clubs and associations are dealing with antisemitic behavior (or not).
