Germany’s television channel Welt has issued an apology following its controversial and shocking comments against Morocco’s national football team.
Welt aired the apology during a news broadcast last week on December 14.
The channel did not intend to convey “any offense,” the broadcaster claimed in the apology message.
“We sincerely apologize for this error. It was not our intention to offend Islamic religious feelings,” the news host added.
On Monday, December 12, Welt sparked uproar online after airing a picture of three Moroccan football players carrying the Moroccan flag and raising their index fingers — a sign known among Muslims as “Tawhid” – in their dressing room following a Word Cup match.
For the three Moroccan players, and as is common among Muslims, the finger-raising gesture captured in their picture was meant to thank God for making it possible for them to perform brilliantly on the world stage.
Welt, however, decided that the gesture meant something else; it claimed that the Moroccan players’ use of an Islamic sign had been “causing backlash” among watchers of Morocco’s win over Portugal.
In particular, the channel audaciously equated “Tawhid” with terrorism, arguing that the players’ use of the Islamic gesture was problematic as it could mean they sympathized with the terrorist group ISIS. While the sign is indeed used by groups affiliated with ISIS, it remains part of the daily prayers of Muslims everywhere.
Muslims typically use the sign to celebrate or acknowledge the oneness of God. Tawhid is also closely tied to the “Shahada,” an expression that is a prerequisite for individuals to convert to Islam.
Welt was not the first media from the West to spark uproar with insensible comments on Morocco’s Atlas Lions.
Last week, Danish television channel TV 2 also came under fire for comparing Moroccan football players and their families to a “family of monkeys.”
A viral video showed TV 2 journalist Christian Hogh Andersen, saying: “In continuation of the talk about Morocco and their families in Qatar, we also have an animal family gathering to keep warm, and that is how beautiful those goblin monkeys are.”
TV 2 also apologized later following the controversy.
In a statement, the television channel said that although the remarks were unintentional, they can “be perceived as racist.”
It added, “Both TV 2 and Christian Hogh Andersen would like to give a profound apology for that.”
