In the latest World Cup, 26% or six of its 23 players who stood on the pitch of the final match were immigrants or descendants of immigrants. They included Mesut Özil (the third generation of a Turkish immigrant), Jerome Boateng (of Ghanaian origin) and Mirosław Kloze (who migrated from Poland at the age of seven years). It is no exaggeration to say that Germany cannot form a strong squad without them these days.

今回のブラジル大会では、決勝のピッチに立ったメスト・エジル（トルコ系移民の第３世代）、ジェローム・ボアテング（ガーナ系）、ミロスラフ・クローゼ（７歳の時ポーランドから移住）らを含め、メンバー２３人中６人、実に２６％を移民系選手が占めている。もはや、彼らなしにはドイツ代表は成り立たなくなっていると言っても過言ではない。What has brought about this situation? It was the German government’s change of its immigration policy, which was arguably prompted by the fact that most of the workers who had come mainly from Italy and Turkey to find jobs in West Germany did not return home after the country’s unification.

　なぜこうした状況が生まれたのか。それはドイツ統一前、旧西ドイツが労働力確保のためイタリア、トルコなどから多く受け入れた出稼ぎ労働者の大半が、統一後も母国に帰らなかったことから、ドイツ政府がそれまでの移民政策を一変させたからである。

 

In 1999, the government introduced jus soli (right of soil by which the nationality of a child is determined by the place of his or her birth) into the country’s nationality law that had previously been based on jus sanguine (right of blood by which a child’s nationality at birth is the same as that of his or her natural parents).

同政府は１９９９年以降、血統主義（親のどちらかの国籍が子の国籍となる）を原則とする国籍法に、条件付きで出生地主義（親がどこの国の国民であろうと、自国で生まれた子は自国民とするもの）を導入した。

 

As time went by, this policy shift resulted in increasing the number of German soccer players often referred to as "M generation" with immigration backgrounds. M stands for German words “Mehrfache Kulturen” meaning multiple cultures.

そこから、移民背景を持つ「Ｍ世代」と呼ばれるサッカー選手が増加するようになったのである。Ｍとはドイツ語のMehrfache Kulturenに由来し、多文化を意味する。

 

The German national team has steadily added to its strength and dexterity by accepting such players and making use of their diversity. For example, Mesut Özil has played a core role in turning the German soccer style highly dependent on physical robustness into a more functional one based on a mix of short and long passes by making use of his broad vision and high skills.

ドイツ代表は、移民系選手を受け入れ、多様性を活かすことで、着実にチームを強化してきた。例えば、Ｍ世代のエジルは持ち前の広い視野や高いテクニックを活かし、これまでフィジカルの強さを前面に押し出したドイツのサッカーを、長短のパスを織り交ぜた、機能的なものに変化させる中核を担った。

 

The presence of players of immigrant descent may give purely German teammates more chances to get in touch with foreign soccer culture in their childhood and improve their ability to adjust themselves to foreign soccer styles. Actually, the German team that competed in Brazil had more players who belonged to football clubs outside Germany than the one that took part in FIFA World Cup 1998 in France.

また、移民系選手の存在は、純ドイツ人選手に異国のサッカー文化に触れる機会を幼少期から与え、異国のサッカーに適応する能力を向上させることが期待できる。実際、１９９８年のＷ杯フランス大会のメンバーに比べ、今ブラジル大会のメンバーは、ドイツ国外のサッカークラブに所属している選手が増加している。

 

Turning eyes to Japan, soccer players with diversified cultural backgrounds are also increasing in number. Among them are Musashi Suzuki (born in Jamaica), who scored five goals in the Asian Games held in Incheon in September, and Mike Havenaar (born to Dutch parents). Let us hope that more of such players will join the Japan national team to add to its ethnic diversity in the future.

　日本に目を向けてみると、９月に行われた仁川アジア競技大会で大会通算５得点を奪う活躍を見せた鈴木武蔵（出生地はジャマイカ）、両親がオランダ人のハーフナー・マイクなど、多様な文化的背景を持つサッカー選手が増えつつある。今後、日本代表にも彼らのような選手が多く選ばれ、それにより多様性が増すようになることを期待したい。

 

 

Written by: Takaaki Araki