Bastian Schweinsteiger is considering legal action against a Hong Kong toy company making Nazi dolls that look remarkably similar to him.
The dolls, named ‘World War II Army Supply Duty – Bastian’, are made in China by Dragon in Dream.
The company told German paper Bild any resemblance was “purely coincidental”.
“We don’t sell any figures which resemble footballers. It is a complete coincidence that the figure ‘Bastian’ looks like Schweinsteiger,” a spokesman added.
“We thought that all Germans look like that. Bastian is also a very common name in Germany.”
“This is a clear violation of Schweinsteiger’s personality rights,” a German media lawyer told Bild.
“Everyone has rights to their own image. To see him as a swastika-bearing Wehrmacht soldier also constitutes a gross defamation and insult,” Ulrich Amelung said.
The figurine comes in several outfits – including a version with a steel helmet, white winter jacket and woollen gloves, and another in a typical army uniform, complete with the “Wehrmachtsadler” insignia, an eagle with a swastika above the right breast pocket.
The doll is on sale for about €110 (£80).