BERLIN (AP) - Despite being threatened with exclusion from Germany's northeast regional league, Babelsberg is refusing to pay a fine in a case that has turned a spotlight on anti-Semitism in German soccer.
Babelsberg is refusing to pay a 7,000-euro ($8,500) fine imposed by the Northeast German Soccer Federation (NOFV) after its fans chanted "Nazi pigs out" at Energie Cottbus supporters during a fourth-tier league game between the sides last April.
The club says its fans were reacting to right-wing chants from mostly masked Cottbus supporters, including, "Ticks, Gypsies and Jews," and "Work sets you free" - a reference to Nazi concentration camps.