A top German soccer club has canceled a trip to Minneapolis in protest at the Trump administration’s recent immigration crackdown.
Werder Bremen, which competes in the German Bundesliga, said that traveling to Minnesota after the recent unrest would clash with its left-wing values.
Christoph Pieper, the club’s head of communications, said in a statement:
Playing in a city where there’s unrest and people have been shot, that does not fit with our values here at Werder Bremen.
Furthermore, it was unclear for us which players could be able to enter the United States due to the stricter entry requirements.
We as a club, we have clear values. Our club stands for an open, pluralistic and united society.
We are committed to ensuring that all people — regardless of their origin, skin colour, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability — are naturally included and have a firm place in our community.
However, the club admitted that it is also facing financial difficulties.
“We are currently facing a very challenging sporting situation, which also makes planning such a trip difficult. There have also been certain economic risks,” he added.
Werder Bremen will not fulfil their proposed summer tour of the U.S., citing recent incidents in Minneapolis, Minnesota as “not fitting the values” of the club.
The German soccer team had provisionally been planning to spend a week between Minnesota and Detroit in May, playing… pic.twitter.com/U0OzJ8mfmL
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) February 20, 2026
Werder Bremen has a history of virtue signalling and left-wing activism.
Shortly after President Trump’s victory in November 2024, the club said it would be leaving the X platform because of supposed right-wing extremism and would instead be joining the leftist platform Bluesky.
“Under the guise of freedom of expression, hate speech, hatred towards minorities, right-wing extremist posts and conspiracy theories have been allowed to spread on X at an incredible pace,” the club said at the time.
“With the recent radicalisation of the platform, a line has been crossed for the club.”
“The Green-Whites are therefore leaving X effective immediately and hope that our more than 600,000 followers will follow the club on Bluesky in the future.”
👋 https://t.co/SKDWMeUn67 pic.twitter.com/8MsZqaoFqL
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) November 18, 2024
The club is without a win in their last 12 Bundesliga matches and have 19 points going into Sunday’s away game against second-from-bottom St. Pauli.
