German soccer club denies censoring player who condemned Charlie Kirk shooting on social media

Borussia Dortmund has denied reports that they’ve placed social media restrictions on one of their players after he offered his thoughts and prayers to the murdered American MAGA political pundit, Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was assassinated on September 10 while he was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. The killing has become a divisive moment in the already-tense American political landscape in the following days.

In the aftermath, Dortmund forward Felix Nmecha posted a pair of tributes to Kirk on his Instagram story. The first was an image of Kirk with the caption, ‘Rest in peace with the Lord. Such as [sic] sad day, may the Lord comfort the Kirk family & the body of Christ in this time.’

He followed that up with a second post, saying, ‘Jesus is the way, the truth and the life!!! ‘To celebrate the assassination of a father of two, a husband and a man who stands for his beliefs and values peacefully is truly evil and shows how much more we’re in need of Christ. May God have mercy and open our eyes and hearts in Jesus name.’

After Nmecha received pushback from commenters, German outlet Bild reported that Borussia Dortmund leadership – including managing director Lars Ricken and sporting director Sebastian Kehl – told Nmecha that he would have to inform the club of his social media posts going forward and that they would approve them.

But in a statement to Daily Mail Sport, the club has outright denied that these restrictions are in place. 

‘Following the murder of Charlie Kirk, Felix Nmecha expressed his condolences, a right to which he is entitled and which is fully protected by freedom of expression,’ a Dortmund spokesperson told Daily Mail Sport.

‘The assumption that one of our employees – regardless of his name – would have to have his private social media post approved by us in advance is not correct.’

Nmecha, who played in the academy at Manchester City and made three first-team appearances for the Cityzens from 2018-2021, signed for Dortmund in the summer of 2023 from Wolfsburg and inked a five-year contract with the club. 

However, the BVB fanbase pushed back on the signing due to multiple social media posts the then-22-year-old made which were received as homophobic and transphobic. 

In February of 2023, Nmecha, who is a devout Christian, re-posted an Instagram video from another American right-wing pundit – Matt Walsh – in which he mocked the father of a transgender child.

While Nmecha claimed that he didn’t agree ‘with the majority of what Matt Walsh says and how he mocks people’, the forward did not offer an apology.

Months later, coinciding with the beginning of Pride Month, Nmecha once again shared a post from a fundamentalist Christian social media account equating the LGBTQ+ celebration to satanic worship.

According to German football journalist Raphael Honigstein (then writing for The Athletic), club president Reinhold Lunow admitted to having ‘great concerns about [Nmecha] sharing Borussia’s values’ before and that the player posted content ‘that could certainly be interpreted as homophobic or anti-queer’.

However, according to a statement from Lunow and longtime Dortmund executive Hans-Joachim Watzke, Nmecha ‘completely convinced us during intensive talks that he does not hold any transphobic or homophobic beliefs.’

When links to Nmecha were first revealed, Dortmund supporters – which have a vocal left-leaning faction – openly protested and called for the club to back out of negotiations.

Multiple articles were written in fanzines condemning the idea before the move was completed and banners were held up outside the Westfalenstadion demanding the club to not go through with the signing.

However, the deal was still completed. Since signing in 2023, Nmecha has made 75 appearances and scored ten goals in all competitions for the ‘Schwarzgelben’.