Borussia Dortmund expresses concerns over AfD's creation of a sticker featuring the club's colors, urging AfD to withdraw it.
In the lead-up to the North Rhine-Westphalia local elections on September 14, 2025, Borussia Dortmund (BVB) has taken a firm stand against the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. The football club has forced the party to withdraw electoral materials that improperly used BVB's iconic black-and-yellow colours and implied a connection between supporting the football club and voting for the AfD.
The controversial election campaign sticker read: "Black and yellow for soccer – blue on Sunday," linking BVB's colours to the AfD's campaign colour (blue) and implicitly suggesting a link between the two. Borussia Dortmund viewed this as an "illegitimate attempt" to establish a link between the football team and a political preference.
The club's legal response was grounded on their claim that their colours and crest are uniquely associated with them worldwide, and the AfD's use of these elements constitutes an illegal appropriation. BVB emphasized that this suggestion contradicts their values, making it unacceptable to imply that being a BVB fan equates to supporting or endorsing AfD political views.
The cease-and-desist letter was addressed to AfD Bundestag member Matthias Helferich and the AfD district association in Dortmund, with a deadline given before potential legal proceedings. Helferich, who had recently been expelled from the North Rhine-Westphalia AfD over controversial statements, acknowledged the tension but claimed that many Dortmund fans would still vote AfD.
This episode is significant for both parties. For Borussia Dortmund, it is about defending their brand identity and values, rejecting politicization of their sports community, and preventing association with a party whose policies or image they do not support. For the AfD, the use of the club's colours appears to be a strategy to localize and politically capitalize on Dortmund's popular identity. However, the legal challenge signals limits to leveraging cultural symbols without consent.
In the broader sports and political context, this controversy exemplifies challenges when political movements attempt to appropriate prominent sports iconography to gain legitimacy or local electoral support, raising issues around intellectual property, brand protection, and the apolitical stance many sports entities maintain.
Borussia Dortmund's successful legal push against the AfD's campaign use of their colours reflects the club’s strict stance against political instrumentalization that conflicts with its values and fan community. The club has made a statement regarding the withdrawal of the electoral materials.
It is important to note that no further historical entanglement between Borussia Dortmund and the AfD has surfaced in the provided sources. This controversy appears as a recent legal and public relations conflict tied specifically to the 2025 elections and the AfD’s campaign tactics.
The incident also serves as a reminder of a gesture by Borussia Dortmund's ultras that occurred a few months ago, when a banner reading "No votes for fascists" was displayed. Another banner read "Say their names," referring to the nine victims of a right-wing extremist attack in Hanau exactly five years earlier. The attack in Hanau was a tragic reminder of the dangers of extremism and the importance of standing against fascism.
The controversy surrounding Borussia Dortmund's colors being used in the AfD's election campaign underscores the tension between political movements attempting to appropriate sports iconography for legitimacy and the apolitical stance many sports entities, like Borussia Dortmund, maintain. Borussia Dortmund's average sports fan might find themselves grappling with a political affiliation that contradicts the football club's values, as demonstrated by the club's firm stance against the AfD party.