FORMER GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER BAERBOCK OPPOSES WORLD CUP BOYCOTT

NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Bernama-dpa) -- Former German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has rejected calls for a boycott of this year's football World Cup in response to the aggressive policies and annexation threats voiced by United States (US) President Donald Trump, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

Baerbock, who now serves as president of the United Nations General Assembly, told the RND media group in remarks published on Friday that such a move would also affect Canada and Mexico, which are co-hosting the tournament with the US.

She said more broadly that she opposed conducting "necessary political debates at the expense of athletes who have worked for years towards a championship."

At the same time, Baerbock said sports federations and officials had a responsibility at major tournaments to ensure that their own hosting criteria, such as press freedom, non-discrimination, and entry requirements, are respected.

At that level, there was also a political responsibility not to allow oneself to be instrumentalised as a cheerleader in the stands, but instead to take clear positions in advance, she added.

The German government earlier this week also spoke out against a World Cup boycott.

"A boycott is out of the question for us," State Minister for Sport Christiane Schenderlein told daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, adding that this position had been agreed within the government.

Schenderlein cited Germany's foreign policy approach towards the US, saying sport must not be instrumentalised. She also pointed out that the tournament will not be held solely in the US, but also in Canada and Mexico.

The head of the German Football Association (DFB), Bernd Neuendorf, has likewise rejected calls for a boycott. 

Amid tensions between the US and European NATO countries over Trump's repeated threats to annex Danish-administered Greenland, some political voices had suggested reconsidering participation in the tournament.

-- BERNAMA-dpa