Felix Nmecha’s faith is forcing Borussia Dortmund into an uncomfortable debate

Midfielder’s spectacular strikes rescued a frustrating day, only for celebrations to reignite dialogue that has followed him through his career

It was just what they needed at just the right time. For a tricky first half and beyond, Elversberg had been a stone in Borussia Dortmund’s shoe, the promoted side not just keeping the home team at bay but keeping them honest, nourishing ambitions of their own. “The fatigue was clearly visible,” said the sporting director, Ole Book, to Sky after a week which had contained Der Klassiker in Munich and a hard-fought Champions League victory over Betis. “We were a bit too focused on managing the game, which was understandable.”

Enter Felix Nmecha. BVB have enjoyed a largely excellent start to the season, are unbeaten and level on points with Bayern Munich at the top; Bayern lead, unsurprisingly, thanks to their superior goal difference. It is a gap which has been widened by Dortmund being far from prolific, a facet which looked as if it might undercut their efforts to roll over their visitors on Saturday, especially in the absence of the injured centre-forward Serhou Guirassy.

Somebody was needed to break it open, and it was Nmecha. With two majestic sweeps of his right foot, two rockets from outside the area, he won the game for his team. His decisive moments of elevated quality pulled BVB away from their opponents when the game threatened to drift. “In terms of talent, qualities, and technique, he’s one of the best midfielders in the world. Add to that his finishing ability, and there aren’t many who are better,” Book beamed. That they go into the international break neck-and-neck with Bayern is all down to their No 8.

After scoring, Nmecha pointed to the sky, then mimed lifting a crown from his head and placing it on the ground. It was nothing new. He did the same, also in front of the Südtribune, the yawning, world-famous 24,000-capacity terrace in which much of the club’s hardcore support stand, after scoring against Paderborn in September. It was the same celebration that Nmecha used when he struck Germany’s opening goal of the World Cup against Curaçao.

The celebration is a nod to Ballers in God (BIG), the Christian group founded “to use the global platform of football to make Jesus known”, and in particular to their campaign The King’s Return. Yet this latest display provoked a response from BVB’s fan and support department. “When it comes to the values of our club,” it said in a statement the day after the Elversberg game, “discrimination, and the question of what kind of societal image of humanity is given space within and around Borussia Dortmund, we cannot and will not remain silent.”

The German public broadcaster ARD has linked BIG to ultra-conservative positions on issues including homosexuality and transgender identity. “Footballers are role models for millions of people, especially children and young people,” the fan and support department continued. “If this reach conveys content that excludes certain groups in society, we cannot dismiss this as merely private religious practice. Where religious beliefs are used to deny people their dignity or equality, our tolerance for intolerance ends.”

Reports suggest the club has been in dialogue with Nmecha since the Paderborn game, and a statement issued in response to Kicker’s inquiries said those talks would continue – while defending Nmecha. “For Borussia Dortmund, it is essential to take the concerns and needs of the fanbase seriously and to address them,” said the club. “Naturally, we also take the current media coverage and the associated questions and discussions very seriously.” Dortmund appear to have been careful not to use any images of the celebration on the club’s official social channels.

These issues and this dialogue have been almost a constant since Nmecha arrived in June 2023, as a de facto Jude Bellingham replacement. His faith had already been a key part of his social media messaging and, as his transfer from Wolfsburg neared completion, some fan groups voiced their opposition, pointing to Nmecha’s sharing of anti-trans posts by the American rightwinger Matt Walsh, among others. A bright yellow banner was hung outside Signal Iduna Park sprayed with the message “@BVB Steh zu deinen worten”, a message to the club to “stick by your words”. In June 2023 Nmecha posted: “I genuinely love ALL people and don’t discriminate against anyone.”

Dortmund’s motto, or marketing strapline, of Echte Liebe (true love), has been used in the last decade-plus to quantify exactly what makes the club special to audiences all over the world. What BVB believe elevates them is a connection with the fans, a mutual respect and understanding that goes way beyond what has increasingly become a company-customer relationship in modern times. Engaging with supporter concerns is important everywhere in German football and, arguably at Dortmund, there is a commercial imperative to visibly do so.

It was widely reported at the time of his arrival that Nmecha had a clause written into his contract that gave Dortmund the power to fine him if he made social media posts which they felt contradicted the club’s values. The club again had words with the player in 2025 after he posted a message of condolence to the family of Charlie Kirk (Nmecha deleted another post which said Kirk had “peacefully stood up for his beliefs and values”).

The difference now is that Nmecha, after a difficult start in Westfalen, has become one of Niko Kovac’s key players, and one of the most recognised in his position in Europe. He scored the first goal of Jürgen Klopp’s Germany tenure, and was linked with big-money moves to the Premier League last summer. So BVB must protect their present, in the sporting sense, their future, in the financial sense, and their very fabric, in terms of their continued relationship with supporters, already strained in recent years by their deal with the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. For his part Nmecha has responded enigmatically and characteristically, quoting a Bible verse on his socials as a caption to snaps of the game. The one thing the club cannot say is that they never saw this coming.

Bayern remain on top but nothing is easy at the moment, even after their brilliant victory at Atlético in midweek. They closed out a narrow in at Mainz but Manuel Neuer was injured again, suffering a partial ligament tear of his right foot on the day he became Bayern’s oldest Bundesliga player at 40 years and 225 days, his sixth substitution in 2026. Whether he will – or should – return is now a fair question, with Jonas Urbig a ready-made replacement. Harry Kane provided assists for both goals to reach double figures in the category, his best-ever assist return in a season already.

The mood was not helped, however, by Uli Hoeness’ latest comments on Jamal Musiala, throwing doubt on whether he can recover his best level on the programme Der Sonntags-Stammtisch. “He’s still getting paid,” the honorary president underlined. “But imagine if FC Bayern were to say what he’s capable of now isn’t what’s stipulated in the contract?”

Even if there was another combination of the El Mala brothers – Malek setting up a goal for Saïd this week – for Köln in the derby with Leverkusen, the game had already been decided then, by a typically classy intervention by Patrik Schick.