Germany's hands-over-mouth protest, a reaction to being barred from wearing a"OneLove" armband, was swiftly followed by accusations of anti-Arab racism and taunts over the country's Nazi past.
The highly charged, often offensive exchanges on social media follow a bad-tempered build-up to the World Cup, when European officials and media led criticism of Qatar's rights record. "I think it would be an omission if we didn't recognise that racism plays a large part," El Kurd said. On Tuesday, when energy-rich Qatar announced its first major deal to send liquefied natural gas to Germany, many on social media were quick to react.
Senegal's media has largely ignored the subject and comment has been muted in Japan, AFP correspondents said. "When we look at the shirts the teams are wearing, or the balls they are playing with... they are produced in Southeast Asian countries, through cheap labour," added Reiche, who co-authored a book on the politics of the Qatar World Cup.