Wout Weghorst returns to his widely criticized performance on the German television channel ZDF. The attacker of VfL Wolfsburg wants to emphasize that he is absolutely not trivializing the existence of the corona virus and its consequences. Weghorst now concludes that the powder fumes around the much-discussed interview have risen that he has been misunderstood.
“I want to be very clear: I am absolutely not a corona denier”, Weghorst says in clear terms in conversation with NDR Sports club. “People all over the world are dying from this disease, which is really shocking. I should have formulated it that way right away. But the questions about this surprised me, and German is not my native language. I’ve had a lot of them in the last few days. Thought about it and can now come out of my words better “, the tall striker points out.
Weghorst made the news in December last year through two posts on Instagram. In these messages, which were also quickly removed, the Wolfsburg attacker openly questioned the corona policy. Weghorst referred to the controversial doctor and conspiracy thinker Christiane Northrup. He apologized for all the fuss a short time later, but after the airing of ZDF The discussion about the former player of Heracles Almelo and AZ flared up again. Weghorst refused to retract his statements from a few months ago.
When the Dutchman was asked about the intentions of his previous opinion, he answered diplomatically. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone. And again, I apologize for the reactions I’ve gotten, especially for the people who interpreted it differently. I certainly didn’t mean it that way. The only thing that matters to me is that every person has to decide for themselves. It is important to look at it critically and that is what it is all about. That was also important to me. On that basis you have to make good decisions for yourself and your own future “, says Weghorst.
Presenter Jochen Breyer then asked for a further explanation, but Weghorst did not want to go into the matter much deeper. “I not only posted that text, but also a link to a documentary that goes deeper into corona and vaccines,” he said. “I made a decision for myself. For me and my family, my girlfriend and my children. It is important for me that everyone makes a decision about this for themselves. It is my point of view the best decision.” ZDF believes that Weghorst is completely wrong by not renouncing his statements again. “He has missed the opportunity, despite several requests, to distance himself from his previous statements,” said the response of the German channel.
Weghorst, who has already discussed the matter with the Wolfsburg club management, left the studio ZDF last week with a slightly strange feeling. “Immediately after the broadcast of Saturday evening (April 10, ed.) I immediately had the feeling: Did I use the right words and said the right things? In the days that followed I saw all the reactions on the internet and Instagram and also in the Netherlands. it was talked about a lot. That does not leave me cold “, Weghorst concludes.