German politician in soccer star race row

A top member of a rising nationalist party has been criticised after reportedly saying many people would not want Jerome Boateng, a German international footballer whose father was born in Ghana, as their neighbour.

Alexander Gauland, deputy leader of Alternative for Germany, was quoted as telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper: “People find him good as a footballer. But they don’t want to have a Boateng as their neighbour.”

The newspaper’s front-page headline was “Gauland insults Boateng”.