Antonio Rudiger takes legal action against journalist over ‘Islamist’ claim
The German defender has been playing for Real Madrid since 2022
Real Madrid’s defender Antonio Rudiger, along with the German Football Federation (DFB), decided to take legal action against the former Editor-in-Chief of German newspaper BILD, Julian Reichelt.
Rudiger, a devout Muslim, posted a photo on his Instagram account pointing his index finger towards the sky in a white robe while sitting on his prayer mat and wrote: “Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims around the world. May the almighty accept our fasting and prayers. #AlwaysBelieve”
On Sunday (March 24), Reichelt posted on his X, formerly Twitter, account where he accused Rudiger of being of the same ideology as the Islamic State organisation as he wished Ramadan to everyone while pointing his index finger.
“For everyone who doesn’t want to recognize Antonio Rüdiger’s Islamist greeting as an Islamist greeting: the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution calls this gesture the ‘IS finger’ and sees the index finger as a clear sign of Islamism,” Reichelt wrote on X.
Rudiger decided not to let it go and has filed a criminal complaint with the Berlin public prosecutor’s office and the DFB also reported the case to the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) of the Frankfurt/Main Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The German’s complaint accuses Reichelt of insult, slander, inflammatory insult and sedition while the DFB accuse the former BILD editor of hate speech.
While Rudiger refused to comment on the matter when asked by the press on Monday, sources close to the player have revealed that the defender feels vilified.
Rudiger is currently with the German national team as they prepare to take on the Netherlands in their last international friendly on Tuesday night.
Remember, Rudiger joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2022 and has been playing for the Whites since then. He emerged as one of the most important players in such a short time and has now become a starting player in the absence of Eder Militao and David Alaba.
