Man Utd Star Sues Over Look-A-Like Nazi Doll

A Chinese toy manufacturer is being sued by Germany’s football captain after it produced a look-a-like doll dressed in a Nazi uniform. Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger began legal proceedings after the figure named 'Bastian' appeared on sale through Hong Kong based Dragon in Dreams (DID).



The company also sells figures depicting former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, British war leader Winston Churchill and civil-rights activist Martin Luther King. A spokesman for the 31-year-old, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, told reporters he was taking legal action as German media angrily reacted at what they perceived to be a depiction of the player as a Nazi.

"Filth," said Munich's TZ newspaper while Stern magazine said "Scandal doll Bastian. That is what it looks like," next to a picture of the doll.
The resemblance to Germany captain Schweinsteiger is striking, although a spokesman for the company has insisted that it is purely coincidental.

"We think that all Germans look like that. Bastian is also a very common name in Germany," spokesman Patrick Chan told Bild.
Media lawyer Ulrich Amelung told Bild that the doll was "a clear violation of Schweinsteiger's personality rights" and "constituted a gross defamation and insult".

 However users on the action figure community website One Sixth Warriors appeared to react more positively to the doll.

User Mailalan said: "I like everything about this one. This one has lots of nicely done small details. I really like it. I agree that it is Bastian Schweinsteiger, the nose gives it away."

 Schweinsteiger is among the most successful German footballers of his generation, having won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013 as well as numerous domestic league and German Cup titles before joining Manchester United in the summer.