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Young German football fan asks for £36,000 raised by Brits to go to charity

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Young German football fan asks for £36,000 raised by Brits to go to charity
German fans among England fans at the game on June 29th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christian Charisius

Millions in Britain celebrated England's European Championship football win over the Germans, but a darker side also emerged in the online abuse hurled at a young Germany fan pictured sobbing in the stands.

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Now one fundraiser has raised £36,000 ($50,000 or €42,000), in an attempt to show her family that not all fans are like the Twitter users who
resorted to Nazi analogies to revel in her misery.

In a statement on the fundraising page, the girl's family said they wanted the money to be donated to Unicef.

The statement said: "In the interests of our daughter and our family we would like to remain private, however we wish to thank everyone for your amazing support.

"Our daughter would like to request your generous donations go to Unicef, knowing that your kindness will do good."

Joel Hughes, from South Wales, said he was struck by "the vileness of the online abuse, but also the xenophobia, which taps into deeper issues of where Britain is now and how we are perceived on the world stage".

"I thought, you know what, I want do try and do something here, however small it might be," he told Sky News.

READ ALSO: 'Don't mention the war': Are the days of England-German jingoism behind us?

Ex-footballer Stan Collymore, a campaigner against racism in the game, re-tweeted examples of the abuse directed towards the girl and her family, who have not been identified.

Hughes was spurred into action by Collymore's condemnation of the reactions, and set out hoping to raise £500 to show that "not everyone from
the UK is horrible".

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But the total has far-outstripped that.

Sky News said he is now working with the fundraising website JustGiving to find the girl's family, with the aim of discussing a donation to charity in line with the campaign's anti-racism message.

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