Germany’s and Manchester United’s soccer player Bastian Schweinsteiger is contemplating a lawsuit against a Chinese company for selling a Nazi soldier doll that appears to be based on his likeness, with the player’s lawyers getting involved earlier this week.
The figurine is manufactured by Hong Kong-based company Dragon in Dream and costs about $120, the BBC reports.
Called “World War II Army Supply Duty — Bastian,” the toy’s default version is decked in the grey uniform of the German army under Adolf Hitler, complete with the Nazi symbol of an eagle with a swastika above the pocket and on his headgear. However, other outfits like a winter jacket and gloves with a miniature steel helmet are also available.
“This is a clear violation of Schweinsteiger’s personality rights,” the BBC quoted Ulrich Amelung, a media lawyer, as telling German newspaper Bild.
“Everyone has rights to their own image,” he added. “To see him as a swastika-bearing Wehrmacht soldier also constitutes a gross defamation and insult.”
Dragon in Dream, on the other hand, has strongly denied basing the toy on Schweinsteiger.
“We don’t sell any figures which resemble footballers,” a company spokesman told Bild. ” It is a complete coincidence that the figure ‘Bastian’ looks like Schweinsteiger,” he said, adding that the company assumed it is how all Germans look.
“Bastian is also a very common name in Germany,” he said.
[BBC]
Ghosts in the Sun: Hitler's Personal Photographer at Dachau, 1950
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Where Trump 2.0 Will Differ From 1.0
- How Elon Musk Became a Kingmaker
- The Power—And Limits—of Peer Support
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- FX’s Say Nothing Is the Must-Watch Political Thriller of 2024
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com