Lehmann kicked off German club's board after racist text

Posted May 05, 2021 7:00 am

The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) - Former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was removed from Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin's supervisory board on Wednesday after sending a racist text message to a Black former player.

Dennis Aogo published a screenshot of Lehmann's WhatsApp message asking whether Aogo was 'œactually your quota Black person.'ť Aogo, a former Germany player, was working for broadcaster Sky covering the Champions League semifinal game between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

'œWOW are you serious?'ť Aogo wrote on Instagram. 'œThis message was probably not meant for me.'ť

Lehmann said on Twitter that he apologized to Aogo for the 'œimpression'ť given by the message. He added that Aogo was 'œknowledgeable'ť in his work as a TV analyst and said he raised Sky's share or 'œquota'ť of the ratings.

Lehmann has also been a Sky analyst but will no longer appear on its coverage of games, Sky Germany executive vice president for sports Charly Classen said on Wednesday.

Andreas FritzenkÃ¶tter, a spokesman for Hertha investor Lars Windhorst, told the dpa news agency that Lehmann was no longer an adviser to Windhorst or his company's representative on the supervisory board.

The club said Lehmann had expressed himself 'œin a racist way'ť in the message to Aogo.

'œSuch statements do not reflect in any way the values that Hertha BSC stands for and actively campaigns for,'ť club president Werner Gegenbauer said. 'œHertha BSC distances itself from any form of racism."

Lehmann had joined the Hertha supervisory board in May 2020 on behalf of Windhorst.

Hertha goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow welcomed the announcement that Lehmann was no longer involved with the club.

'œWe as a club, as Hertha, represent certain values. Those weren't reflected in this message. Therefore, I think this step had to come,'ť Schwolow said.

Lehmann backstopped Arsenal's 'œInvincibles'ť squad in 2003-04 and also played at Borussia Dortmund and Schalke. He made 61 appearances for Germany and retired in 2011.

Aogo, who was in Germany's squad at the 2010 World Cup, retired last year.

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