FC Bundestag, the parliamentary football club for current and former Bundestag members, is set to alter its bylaws to explicitly prohibit parliamentarians of the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) from joining or being admitted.
On Wednesday, June 25th, members of the football team’s general assembly were scheduled to vote to require all participants to pledge allegiance to Germany’s freiheitlich demokratische Grundordnung (liberal-democratic constitutional order) and reject “racist, anti-constitutional, and xenophobic tendencies.”
The proposal will empower the executive board to admit or reject applicants by a simple majority, specifically targeting those affiliated with parties the club considers hostile to democracy.
This move follows a March 2024 decision to exclude AfD MPs—this was overturned in March 2025 by the Berlin regional court, which determined that such a ban violated the club’s existing statutes.
Ironically, FC Bundestag describes itself as a parliamentary group “characterised by cohesion, fairness, respect, discipline, fun, and team spirit.” These attributes don’t seem to be valid when the AfD is involved.
Green MP Kassem Taher Saleh insisted the amendment isn’t exclusionist but necessary: “Professionals whose words and deeds pave the way for Nazis to reappear… we stand up to that—on the field and in parliament,” he said.
AfD leaders are expected to contest the change.
The exclusion of the AfD—now supported by roughly a quarter of German voters—from institutions like the FC Bundestag reveals the ruling elites’ deep contempt for democratic representation.
