Illustrative photo of a man browsing the website of DiD, a company that produced a Nazi-uniform-clad figurine with a face similar to Bastian Schweinsteiger, in Hong Kong on October 23, 2015. (AFP/Philippe Lopez)
Bastian Schweinsteiger, the German national soccer captain, is taking legal action against a Hong Kong-based company for making Nazi figurines that bear a clear resemblance to him.
A member of Schweinsteiger’s management team confirmed the legal action to SID, the sports subsidiary of AFP on Thursday, after a report in the Bild newspaper.
The company DiD has produced a Nazi-uniform-clad figurine with a face similar to Schweinsteiger’s and which is named “Bastian.”
Contacted by Bild, a company employee Patrick Chan denied selling any figurines based on a footballer, and said it was purely coincidental that the Nazi doll resembled Schweinsteiger.
Manchester United’s German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger takes part in a training session in Manchester, England, on October 20, 2015. (AFP/ Paul Ellis)
The 30-centimeter tall figurine was “based on the typical German”, he said. “We thought that all Germans look like that.”
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The figurine, marketed as “WWII Army Supply Duty”, comes with several apparels — including a version with a steel helmet, white winter jacket and woollen gloves. Another outfit features a typical army uniform, complete with the “Wehrmachtsadler” insignia — an eagle with a swastika above the right breast pocket.
Schweinsteiger was named captain of the German team last year after Philipp Lahm’s international retirement.
The Manchester United midfielder was a key member of the squad that won the World Cup in 2014.
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