German side Chemnitzer FC sack captain Daniel Frahn after he ‘openly displays’ sympathy for neo-Nazi hooligans

GERMAN third division team Chemnitzer FC have sacked their captain Daniel Frahn after the striker ‘openly displayed sympathy’ for neo-nazi hooligans.

The 32-year-old missed Chemnitzer’s 3-1 away defeat to Hallescher on Saturday and watched the game with fans in the stands.

But he was spotted standing with leading figures from far-right hooligan groups who follow the team.

The ex-RB Leipzig man was fined by the club in March after he held up a t-shirt with the slogan ‘support your local hools’.

WIDESPREAD NAZI SCENE

The shirts were part of a tribute to deceased far-right activist Thomas Haller but afterwards Frahn apologised and said: “I didn’t know the T-shirt was so widespread in the Nazi scene.”

He claimed he was acting in solidarity with the relatives of Haller – founder of far-right group HooNaRa (‘Hooligans, Nazis, Racists’) – as the shirt sales were helping to cover the dead man’s medical bills.

But in a statement released on Monday, Chemnitzer admitted they were wrong to trust his words at the time and described his apology as a ‘farce’.

Romy Polster, deputy chair of the club’s shareholder meeting said: “He could not and would not live up to the responsibility of the player and team captain of a football club, which involves more than scoring goals and letting yourself be cheered by the crowd: namely, attitude.”

We are duty bound to be a bulwark against right wing extremism

Chemnitzer FC on neo-nazi movements in their fanbase

Chemnitzer are second bottom of the league and facing bankruptcy as well as wider issues with far-right movements among their fan base and community.

Neo-nazi groups in the nearby city of Saxony were involved in a spate of violence last August which saw several people injured.

But speaking on Monday, the club made clear their stance – admirably stating they saw themselves ‘duty bound to be a bulwark against right wing extremism’.