Alberich Lichtenberg (@Germanien)

—OPEN LETTER FROM GERMANY: WHAT I'M SEEING FROM AFAR AT THE WORLD CUP OF HATE— (PART 1) My name is Julian, and I am writing from #Germany. I am not physically in #Mexico, but in the digital age, I do not need to be there to see what is happening. Over the past few days, I have been following events minute by minute through social media, live broadcasts, and the accounts of friends who are there. What I have witnessed has left me deeply concerned and, to be completely honest, frightened. I Am Not Invisible: The Hate Reached Me Here One might think that being thousands of kilometers away would offer some protection. It does not. I dared to speak out on social media—#X, #Facebook, and several discussion forums—about what I was observing, and that alone was enough to make me a target. I have been attacked, insulted, smeared, and ridiculed for speaking uncomfortable truths and because of my nationality. I have received direct threats in private messages that went far beyond sporting debate and crossed into personal intimidation. All of this happened through my screen, from my home in Germany, simply because I pointed out what seemed obvious: that something is deeply wrong with the way a significant segment of the Mexican fan base is treating visiting supporters. When Home Advantage Becomes Systematic Hostility The incidents involving #Ecuador should have been a wake-up call. Before the match had even ended, videos began circulating that appeared to show Mexican fans physically and verbally assaulting Ecuadorian supporters. The Ecuadorian Football Federation filed a formal complaint with #FIFA over a series of alleged incidents, including pushing, punches, objects being thrown, xenophobic abuse, and a deliberately organized late-night disturbance outside the team's hotel that was reportedly intended to prevent the opposing players from sleeping before the match. This is not "creating a home-field advantage." It is organized harassment. It is using sporting passion as an excuse for aggression. A Pattern Repeated Against Every Opponent Or Visitor Ecuador has not been the only target. I have been closely monitoring social media—X, Facebook, and #Instagram—and the hostility appears to be widespread. 🇬🇧 Against #England: Online confrontations, constant provocation, and xenophobic memes. Even Liam Gallagher, the frontman of #Oasis, became involved in heated exchanges with Mexican fans that went beyond sporting rivalry and turned personal. 🇦🇷 Against #Argentina: A historic football rivalry has, on social media, devolved into xenophobic insults disguised as "humor," stereotypes presented as jokes, and open contempt toward Argentine supporters and citizens. 🇵🇪 🇬🇹 🇭🇳 🇸🇻 Against #Peru, #Guatemala, #Honduras, and #ElSalvador: The same pattern emerges. The opponent is no longer simply a team to defeat on the pitch—even in cases where those nations were not participating in the tournament—but an enemy to humiliate, attack, and destroy. The nationality changes; the hostility remains the same. The Numbers Do Not Lie FIFA has released data that is deeply alarming. During the group stage, 89,000 offensive social media posts were identified, with 11% containing explicitly racist content. Compared with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in #Qatar, this represents an exponential increase in online hate. These are NOT isolated incidents. They form a pattern. The Rumor Making The Rounds: Threats Against Ecuadorian Players? There is a story circulating in online forums and private conversations that some people present as fact. It is important to make one thing absolutely clear: it remains an unverified rumor for which no concrete evidence has been produced. According to these claims, Ecuadorian players who compete for Mexican clubs allegedly received threats from groups linked to organized crime—or from networks of individuals allegedly acting on behalf of criminal organizations or the government. The alleged message was that these groups possessed private information about the players and their families and that Mexico had to win, or there would be consequences. Let me repeat: this is a rumor. There is no documented evidence, no official statements, and no verified proof supporting these allegations. Yet the very fact that such a story is circulating, that many people consider it plausible, and that it appears to fit what some perceive as the modus operandi of a country where organized crime has deeply infiltrated public life says something profoundly troubling about the level of distrust that exists. And that leads to an uncomfortable question that very few people seem willing to ask: If rumors like these are considered believable—if people genuinely think they could be true—doesn't that, in itself, say something about the country's institutional decay? Can we truly have confidence that sporting results are beyond suspicion when fear and violence have become such familiar features of everyday life? 🤔 #WorldCup #WorldCup2026