‘Time has come’ to consider World Cup boycott - German soccer official laments actions by US president

BERLIN, Germany:

A German soccer federation executive committee member says it's time to consider a World Cup boycott because of the actions of United States President Donald Trump.

Oke Gottlich, the president of Bundesliga club St Pauli and one of the German federation's 10 vice-presidents, told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper in an interview on Friday that "the time has come" to "seriously consider and discuss this".

Trump has sowed discord in Europe with his takeover bid for Greenland -- a semiautonomous territory of NATO member Denmark -- and his subsequent threat to impose tariffs on eight European countries who opposed the takeover.

SHATTERING ALLIANCE

It left many of America's closest allies warning of a rupture with Washington capable of shattering the NATO alliance.

"What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?" Gottlich said. "By my reckoning the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion."

The United States is co-hosting the World Cup from June 11-July 19 with Canada and Mexico. Fans have concerns about high ticket prices, while travel bans imposed by the Trump administration are also prohibiting supporters from some competing nations from attending.

Gottlich, who has called for the defence of values, is likely to meet resistance to calls for a boycott from federation president Bernd Neuendorf and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

"Qatar was too political for everyone and now we're completely apolitical? That's something that really, really, really bothers me," Gottlich said of the German federation's opposition to the previous World Cup host.

POLITICAL DISTRACTIONS

Germany flopped at that tournament, and the coach who took over afterwards said he wanted no more political distractions.

"As organisations and society, we're forgetting how to set taboos and boundaries, and how to defend values," Gottlich said. "Taboos are an essential part of our stance. Is a taboo crossed when someone threatens? Is a taboo crossed when someone attacks? When people die? I would like to know from Donald Trump when he has reached his taboo, and I would like to know from Bernd Neuendorf and Gianni Infantino."

Hamburg-based St Pauli is known for mixing sport with politics near the city's red-light district, and particularly its left-wing stance. The club's famous pirate skull-and-crossbones symbol was first carried by squatters who lived nearby and later popularised by fans who identified as punks.

Gottlich dismissed the suggestion a boycott would hurt St Pauli's national team players, Australia's Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe, and Japan's Joel Chima Fujita.

- AP