Ruefer speaks out after accusation of racism

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Did he say that sentence or not? For days, Switzerland discussed a quote that should come from SRF sports reporter Sascha Ruefer (51). “Granit Xhaka is everything but not Swiss,” Ruefer said in the SRF documentary series “The Pressure Game” before the passage was cut. “Clearly racist”, judges the “WOZ”, which distributes the quote.

Does he have it now? Yes he has. Blick can watch the full interview that filmmaker Simon Helbling held with Ruefer at SRF’s sports department. In fact, after about an hour, the ominous phrase falls. And now the problems begin. Because what in itself sounds like a bad right-wing slogan quickly becomes quite complicated. Before that, Ruefer talks very, very long about the national team, about their players, about their captain Granit Xhaka (30). He does so benevolently, highlighting Xhaka’s skills as a football player and as a leader. There is no doubt that Xhaka is a great footballer, the head of this team and the leader of a whole generation of Swiss footballers. He also says that Xhaka would be the head of this national team even without the captain’s armband. Sometimes he even finds Xhaka “cool” in his way of life, says Ruefer. Xhaka as captain and leader: irreplaceable for the national team, says Ruefer.

The interview actually ended after 45 minutes. A few more filler shots are being made, cut in TV jargon. Ruefer talks further with director Helbling, it is about the conditions of the documentation and about the national team, about the World Cup in Qatar. Suddenly the camera zooms in again, Ruefer as an interviewee is once again fully in the picture. Then: second end of the interview, but the two are still talking. The camera is now filming from an angle from the side, it’s perpendicular to Ruefer. Later he will say that he did not remember that the camera was still running. It’s about Xhaka again. And at one point, Ruefer then says the fateful line when he talks about the Xhaka leader type and how he offends with his style.

And now? Is Ruefer a racist? Those who have heard the entire interview will quickly notice that Ruefer is talking about the cliché Swiss when he says “Swiss”. It’s a flippant, poorly worded sentence. It is also not well thought out, what is typically Swiss in 2023 and who actually determines that? But Ruefer, the racist?

“I wouldn’t say that line again if I could go back,” says Ruefer. “Of course not. I wish I had at least talked about ‘typical’ Swiss people.” In the interview he is asked about the subject of “good” and “wrong” Swiss. “Fortunately, we don’t have this discussion anymore,” he says. This is the same Ruefer who would have later thrown a racist slogan. The same Ruefer who cultivated his exclamation “The man from Sursee” as a target shout for Haris Seferovic, as he would have been upset that the conservative, old men at the tribal table would tear their mouths at him that he mentioned Seferovic, who was of Bosnian descent , a Surseer.

Sasha Ruefer: Over the past few days, things have been associated with me that have nothing to do with my values ​​and my attitude. I’ve had messages for the past few days, you can’t imagine.

Look: what did it say?
That I’m a racist, a bad guy. That I would lose my job.

How do you defend yourself?
I am not a racist and have not made racist statements to Granit Xhaka. I made the statement in a completely different context – after the interview was over. It was therefore clear that this statement would not be broadcast.

Many others have already spoken out. SP chairman Cédric Wermuth, for example.
He spoke out and condemned me without knowing the facts. I hope Mr. Wermuth does things differently when it comes to political matters.

On the other hand, did you receive applause from the right?
Yes. But I don’t want that! That’s an angle I want nothing to do with. Several people have written to me saying they are glad someone is telling the truth. This is a misunderstanding. I never meant to say Granit Xhaka wasn’t Swiss. That’s what I said to the right wing.

Do you understand the outrage over the rumor statement?
Yes and no. The statement was not made public. I did it on the sidelines of an interview in a different context. I characterized Granit Xhaka as a player. I’m glad I can make that clear now.

Of course, like almost every serious Swiss medium, Blick asked SRF what the Ruefer statement was about. The SRF response: The statement has been taken out of context. But you can’t reveal the context, because you can’t publish unused raw material from documentation. And because an outside company produced the film, the material is not available in-house. At some point the pressure becomes too great. Ruefer shares how it bothers him that he has to explain to his nine-year-old son that he is not a racist. Late Thursday evening, Ruefer contacts several Swiss journalists and invites them to watch the full interview on Good Friday.

The sentence does not appear at all in the final version.
Yes. When I saw the second version I was at the Nordic World Championships and I was shocked. The phrase stood alone in the Xhaka episode. It was presented as if there was conflict between Ruefer and Xhaka. You talk to someone about a complex subject for an hour in advance and then a sentence is selected that does not apply to the subject, that is not possible. Especially since the interview was long overdue when this statement was made. We talked like colleagues at lunch, where you don’t put every word on the golden scale, but one understands what the other means. That’s why I protested. The colleagues reacted immediately, saw the error and changed the passage.

A process that is common in such productions. But what does it mean when the Nati commentator talks about different types of Swiss? Especially since Ruefer needs to know how hot this topic is since the affair with the two-headed eagle. “Every word I say is weighed on the golden scale, that’s what I learned then,” he says. “Now it’s even clearer to me.”

Do you think it is appropriate to talk about “typical” and “atypical” Swiss people? Will you continue to use such formulations in the future?
We as a society need to find a way to talk about differences, so I think we should continue to use such language without fear. Everyone knows what it means. The Swiss national team of the future will have more and more dark-skinned players in its ranks who bring a different cultural background. We’re going to talk about that too. Not because that would be bad. But because it is the reality. The same goes for gender issues. Let’s talk about it without blinders on.

At one point in the interview, you talk about the fact that people in Switzerland didn’t have the two-headed eagle and its meaning on their screens in 2018. Are you forgetting the Swiss with Kosovar, Albanian, Serbian roots? They certainly had the problem on their radar.
Of course they are Swiss to me. But that’s my language, so I learned it from my parents and they, in turn, from their parents. Sometimes we all run into our limits. And I try to do better.

In the film you mention Beat Feuz as a positive counterexample to Xhaka when it comes to his tattoo episode at the EM 2021. You could say you also raise the issue of “real Swiss vs. fake Swiss”.
But now you’ve pretty much shot me.

You could have named Roger Federer as a man of the world, the greatest Swiss athlete in history. But they chose the Emmental skier Feuz.
The interview took place in the winter during the World Cup. Feuz made headlines as a skier. It just came to mind first, with no ulterior motives. This has nothing to do with real or fake Swiss, I assure you.

Have you already contacted Granit Xhaka?
I offered to work this out nicely with him. I assume that will be possible. I am not answerable to anyone in this matter except him. And that’s important to me: I respect Granit as a person and especially as a footballer. Even though sometimes he does things that annoy me. I will also name them in the future.

He remains a national commentator

The future. “Sascha Ruefer continues to be our national commentator,” said Susan Schwall, sports editor-in-chief at SRF. “He didn’t do anything wrong.” On June 16, 2023, Ruefer will again be on the SRF microphone for Switzerland’s international match against Andorra. He says, “As a national commentator, I have to be able to put up with this episode. I need to talk to Granit Xhaka, I feel obligated to him. But it should not spoil the joy of the national team for me.”

But it is also clear that Ruefer’s words will be heard with different ears in the future. After the double eagle theater 2018, the tattoo story 2021, the discussion after the match against Lithuania whether Xhaka was missing at all, after the World Cup in Qatar where he questioned Xhaka’s captaincy after the match against Serbia, after the last episode of “The Pressure Game” – things come together. “Something always gets stuck. It’s my first time getting this tattoo, so I’m under no illusions,” he says. “I hope the tattoo just fades quickly, because I deny any racism.”

Source : Blick