Dortmund weigh legal action as Nmecha crown celebration sparks row in Germany

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha is at the centre of the biggest row in German football. On Saturday, 7 November, he scored both goals in a 2-1 Bundesliga win over Elversberg and after each one knelt, “took off” an imaginary crown and laid it on the grass.

What the crown means

The gesture is linked to The King's Return, a campaign close to the evangelical network Ballers in God. Founded in 2015, the network brings together Christian footballers and shares such campaigns widely on social media.

On Sunday, 8 November, the club's fan and supporters' department issued a statement saying the network spreads a worldview in which people are demeaned or excluded because of their sexual orientation. “Faith does not justify exclusion,” the fans said, urging the club to distance itself clearly. Dortmund said it would talk to the player.

Nmecha responds, club acts

On Monday Nmecha wrote on Instagram that his gesture was not meant to put himself or any organisation in the spotlight and that it had led to “some misunderstandings”. “My message was never intended to promote intolerance, discrimination or hatred in any form,” he said.

That evening club president Hans-Joachim Watzke told a members' meeting of the fan department that Nmecha would drop the celebration and that the club would ask Ballers in God not to use the player in its promotion, the regional broadcaster WDR reported. Bild reported that the club is considering legal action if the network keeps using photos of Nmecha in a Dortmund shirt. The club has not commented officially.

Germany head coach Jürgen Klopp also spoke to Nmecha, while team-mate Niclas Füllkrug defended him as a very loving and kind person. Nmecha faced criticism in 2023, when he joined Dortmund, over social media posts seen as homophobic; he rejected the accusations at the time.

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