Hertha Berlin sack goalkeeping coach over homophobic and anti-migrant comments

Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin have parted company with goalkeeping coach Zsolt Petry over comments made in an interview. Hertha said the homophobic and anti-migrant sentiments were not compatible with the club's values.

Hertha Berlin have sacked goalkeeping coach Zsolt Petry with immediate effect after the Hungarian made controversial comments regarding immigration and homosexuality in a newspaper interview.

Speaking to the Magyar Nemzet daily on Easter Monday, Petry, 54, called the EU's immigration policy the "moral downfall" of Europe, while also criticizing RB Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi for his public support of same-sex marriage.

"I don't know what led Peter to stand up for people with homosexual, transvestite and other gender identities," said Petry of his compatriot Gulacsi, who took to Facebook in December to denounce a constitutional change that effectively banned adoption for LGBTQ couples in Hungary.

"If I were him, as an athlete,

I would concentrate on football and not comment publicly on sociopolitical issues," said Petry, who made 38 appearances for Hungary as a goalkeeper and was voted Hungarian player of the year in 1990.

Asked by the Magyar Nemzet if he sympathizes with conservative politics, Petry responded: "Absolutely. I don't understand how Europe could sink so morally low; the immigration policy is an expression of moral downfall. Europe is a Christian continent. Let us continue to live by the national values we have learned over the years."

"The liberals inflate any contrary opinions," he continued. "When you don't think migration is good, because criminals have