Former Germany and Arsenal shot-stopper Jens Lehmann has been sacked from his role on Hertha Berlin’s board. The decision was reached after he was found guilty of sending a message on Whatsapp to Dennis Aogo calling him a “quota black guy” the phrase he used was said to be a racial one, so he was relieved of his Hertha Berlin duties.
According to reports, Dennis Aogo, who works for Sky in Germany, posted a screenshot of the message sent to him on Whatsapp by the former Arsenal keeper on his Instagram page and wrote: “Wow, you’re serious? The message was probably not for me.”
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Jens Lehmann has apologised and explained what he meant by the phrase, but the German authorities did not accept it. Lehmann said what he meant was that Dennis Aogo as is “very knowledgeable”, he had helped increase the “quota”.
However, Tennor Holding, the investment group that Lehmann represented on the supervisory board of Bundesliga club Hertha, said his contract would be terminated with immediate effect as it was seen as racial abuse on the former German defender. The club’s president Werner Gegenbauer said: “Such statements are in no way representative of the values that Hertha BSC stands for.
He also said: “We distance ourselves from all forms of racism and welcome the action taken by Tennor Holding.” 34-year-old played for Hamburg and Stuttgart, among other clubs before retiring from professional football, he earned 12 caps for Germany.