World Cup boycott? With people ‘dying on the street’, a German soccer exec wants a discussion
Oke Goettlich has started a conversation.
Last week, in an interview with the Hamburger Morgenpost, the St.Pauli president, who is a member of the German Football Association’s (DFB) executive committee and one of its eleven vice presidents, encouraged a discussion about a boycott of this year’s men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?” Goettlich said. “By my reckoning, the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.”
The reaction in Germany since has been critical. Speaking at an event staged by the Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL), the organisation that operates the Bundesliga, Bernd Neuendorf, the president of the DFB, accused Goettlich of “jumping the gun”, saying that the debate is “ill-timed and not relevant to us.”
Neuendorf, also a member of the FIFA Council — the decision-making arm of world football’s governing body — accused Goettlich, who was elected to the DFB’s executive committee in November 2025, of speaking out of turn.
“I don’t think this is a major debate at all, because I believe we at the DFB are very much in agreement that we consider it completely misguided at this point,” Neuendorf said.
“It’s a statement from a single representative from the (DFB) executive committee. This colleague hasn’t been with us that long, but as a rule, we discuss these issues within our committees first and then form an opinion.”
Hans-Joachim Watzke, chief executive of the DFL, has also rejected calls for a boycott.
But Goettlich is one of German football’s most forthright characters. He has been St. Pauli’s president since 2014, which has made him the figurehead for the country’s most political, left-wing club; he is used to being outspoken.
“It is clearly time to at least discuss a boycott,” he tells The Athletic.
“We do not know yet how the coming months will unfold. Right now, Germany’s Foreign Office has issued travel advisories for parts of the United States. We are seeing people die on the streets as a result of actions by immigration enforcement — ICE. We do not know yet what will happen with Greenland.
“Against that backdrop, it is responsible and necessary to openly discuss which scenarios are on the table.”
That discussion is happening. On Monday, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter endorsed comments made by Mark Pieth, a Swiss anti-corruption lawyer who worked with FIFA during Blatter’s presidency, who has advised supporters to “avoid the United States”, telling them that “they’ll get a better view on television anyway”.
“Upon arrival,” Pieth said in an interview with Tages-Anzeiger, the Swiss newspaper, “fans should expect that if they don’t behave properly with the authorities, they will be immediately sent home. If they’re lucky …”
Blatter, writing on X, said that Pieth “was right to question the tournament”.
“For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!” I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup. #MarkPieth #GianniInfantino #DonaldTrump #FIFAWorldCup2026 #USA
— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) January 26, 2026
Goettlich has advised fans not to travel to the tournament, too.
He also rejects the notion that football exists in a non-political vacuum, or that the sport and surrounding politics can simply be kept apart.
“The claim that football should not be politicised is simply no longer credible,” he said.
“That line was crossed long ago and most recently by the propaganda-style performance staged by (FIFA president) Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump around a so-called peace prize. We did not politicise football; they did.
“And yes, the argument that the 2018 World Cup in Russia should have been boycotted after the annexation of Crimea is valid. It shows precisely what happens when imperial and authoritarian leaders are not confronted clearly and early, and when firm limits are not set.”
His position on this issue should not be misinterpreted.
“A boycott would not be directed against the people of the United States,” he said, “but against the government. It would be a form of protest toward those in power and an action in defence of human rights and the rule of law. This is not about demonising the United States, and certainly not its population. It is about standing with those who are threatened by the Trump administration.”
And hearing from them. Goettlich wants the people in the United States to be part of this discussion and to involve those directly affected.
“We would also welcome the opportunity to engage directly with civil society initiatives in the United States to hear their perspectives on this debate,” he added. What really matters is listening to those on the ground and understanding how people there view the situation.”
