Former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp has stirred controversy after appearing to make a Nazi salute while joking that England manager Thomas Tuchel is a "German spy" during a charity event in London.
Redknapp, 78, who previously managed Portsmouth, Tottenham, and West Ham, made the comments before England's recent World Cup qualifying matches against Albania and Latvia - both of which ended in victories under Tuchel's leadership.
"I'll be honest with you, I think he's a German spy. I'm telling you," Redknapp said in a video clip obtained by the Guardian. "Seriously, he's been sent over to [expletive] us up. He has. I'm telling ya, he's like Lord Haw Haw in the war — 'We have your best soldiers captured' and all that."
William Joyce, known as Lord Haw-Haw, was notorious for broadcasting Nazi propaganda to the United Kingdom during World War Two.
Redknapp didn't stop there, suggesting Tuchel had been instructed to "go over and ruin that team." Witnesses report that as he made these comments, Redknapp appeared to perform a Nazi salute gesture while the audience laughed.
The incident has drawn criticism on social media, though German comedian Henning Wehn, who regularly appears on BBC Radio 5 live's Fighting Talk, defended Redknapp, saying: "What a non-story. Lighten up! If we're not allowed a bit of banter, what's the point of football? Or anything."
Tuchel, who became England's manager in January, is only the third foreign permanent manager of the national team, following Sweden's Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italy's Fabio Capello. When questioned about his nationality in October, Tuchel simply responded, "sorry I have a German passport." More recently, he acknowledged he needed to "earn the right" to sing the English national anthem.
The German coach previously led Chelsea to Champions League glory in the 2020-21 season during his earlier stint in English football.
Redknapp, whose last managerial position was with Birmingham City in 2017, holds the distinction of being the last English manager to win a major domestic trophy - the 2008 FA Cup with Portsmouth - before Eddie Howe's Newcastle United claimed this year's Carabao Cup. Throughout his career, Redknapp also managed Bournemouth, Southampton, QPR, and the Jordan national team.
