German sports patrons for Maccabi

 

There’s prominent support for the European Maccabi Games 2015 in Berlin.

 

What do footballer Jérôme Boateng, Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas and Federal Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen have in common? They are all sports patrons of the largest Jewish sporting event in Europe, which is being held in Berlin for the very first time in 2015. From 27 July to 5 August the European Maccabi Games 2015 will bring together more than 2,000 competitors from over 30 countries, who will take part in 19 different sports disciplines.

 

The Games are of great historical and social significance. They are taking place 70 years after the end of the Shoah and 50 years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany. Indeed, the European Maccabi Games 2015 are not taking place just anywhere in Berlin, but at a venue steeped in problematic history, namely in the Berlin Olympic Park. It hosted the 1936 Olympic Games, which German Jews were forbidden from participating in.

The prominent German sports patrons of the Games emphasize the great importance Germany attaches to the competition in Berlin. A total of 15 people have agreed to be patrons. Minister Maas, for example, is patron of the triathlon discipline and himself an active triathlete. In his words of greeting, he underscored the significance of the Games being held in Berlin: “It is a sign of how rich and diverse Jewish life in Germany has once again become. That wasn’t to be expected and was something Germany could only hope would happen. I feel this is a great stroke of fortune for our country and am very grateful for it.”

 

Minister von der Leyen, for many years now an ardent horse rider, is patron of the dressage events. In her greeting she focuses on sport’s social role: “Sport brings people together across cultures, religions and borders. Sport has its own language and its own ways of building bridges, precisely where the customary means of politics come up against hurdles. Sport is an indispensable means of promoting peace, tolerance and a spirit of mutual understanding world-wide.”

Football World Champion Boateng is the patron of football and Futsal, a variant of indoor football. In his words of greeting he strikes a personal note of support: “Owing to the colour of my skin I myself have had to experience things which today I combat as a professional football player. I have experienced racism, ostracism, prejudice.” Events such as the European Maccabi Games are especially important, Boateng continues, because “they offer an opportunity through sport to familiarize yourself with history. They show how you can overcome borders and boundaries, and they create integration.”