Germany FA vice-president apologises for post mocking Volodymyr Zelenskiy

The German Football Association (DFB) vice-president Hermann Winkler apologised on Monday for a social media post mocking the visit of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to Berlin.

Zelenskiy had talks with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Sunday, with many parts of central Berlin locked down for security reasons during his visit. Winkler, who heads the Saxony Football Association in the east of the country, had complained about road closures and other security restrictions, saying “at least the Soviet memorial in Treptower Park is still standing for now”. He said the city had shut down for the visit “of a former Ukrainian actor”. Zelenskiy was an actor before his election.

The Treptower Park memorial is a monument to fallen Soviet soldiers in Germany during the second world war. Winkler grew up in what was then East Germany, a satellite state of the Soviet Union.

The DFB said his comments were unacceptable and the issue would be raised at a meeting of regional association heads after the discussion the DFB’s president, Bernd Neuendorf, had with Winkler.

“In this discussion Neuendorf made it very clear that Winkler’s comments regarding Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, were received as unbearable and offensive,” the DFB said in a statement. “He considers Winkler’s approach as incompatible with the DFB’s basic principles. Neuendorf will raise the issue of this incident at next Wednesday’s regional federation presidents’ meeting.”

Winkler, who has since deleted his post, apologised. “It [the post] was created in a very emotional situation for me at the memorial in the Treptower Park,” Winkler wrote on Facebook. “I would not write it again in such a way. I apologise for that and for the irritation it