Daily Times

Two football teams in the town of Oer-Erkenschwick in North Rhine-Westphalia played a game on Sunday completely naked, as part of a protest against money in football.

The game was organized by the artist Gerrit Starczewski at the Stimberg Stadium on the northern edge of Germany’s industrial Ruhr area.

“The football system is sick, that’s why we all get naked,” the 34-year-old artist said.

Speaking to a sports magazine before the match, Starczewski said: “Everyone wants something authentic and pure. I think we can prove the authenticity of this game only if we play away from this advertising and sponsored clothing. ”

The players wore only football boots and socks. The players of each team wore socks of a specific colour so that it was possible to identify which team the player belonged to. The numbers of the players were written on their backs by colour.

But the artist also wanted to take a jab at the superficiality of the sport. “With my nude actions, I also want to set an example for diversity and naturalness and against the dependence and influence of social media and false ideals of beauty,” Starczewski said.

Body authenticity is something that is absent in modern football and that is reflected in how the sport sells a certain kind of body image. “Everything has to be perfect there too, and in the end it’s all about commercialization,” Starczewski added.