23 October,2015 08:26 AM IST | | AFP
Bastian Schweinsteiger is taking legal action against a Hong Kong-based company for making Nazi figurines that bear a clear resemblance to him
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Manchester: Bastian Schweinsteiger is taking legal action against a Hong Kong-based company for making Nazi figurines that bear a clear resemblance to him.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
A member of Schweinsteiger's management team confirmed the legal action to SID, after a report in the Bild newspaper.
The company DiD had produced a Nazi-uniform-clad figurine with a face similar to Schweinsteiger's and which is named "Bastian". Contacted by Bild, a company employee Patrick Chan denied selling any figurines based on a footballer, and said it was purely coincidental that the Nazi doll resembled Schweinsteiger.
The 30-cm tall figurine was "based on the typical German", he said. "We thought that all Germans look like that."
The figurine, marketed as 'WWII Army Supply Duty', comes with several apparels - including a version with a steel helmet, white winter jacket and woollen gloves, and another in a typical army uniform, complete with the 'Wehrmachtsadler' insignia - an eagle with a swastika above the right breast pocket.
