Bundesliga club St. Pauli is grappling with whether to continue playing its traditional stadium hymn following recent allegations of the lyric-writer’s links to Nazis.

St. Pauli's stadium anthem was dropped for the first time in 20 years before the Bundesliga home game with Freiburg on Saturday, prompting an emotional reaction from fans. The club's decision on Friday to no longer play "Das Herz von St Pauli" (The heart of St Pauli) due to songwriter Josef Ollig's previously unknown Nazi past led to some supporters booing club president Oke Göttlich.

Bundesliga side St. Pauli, one of Germany's most politically active football clubs, has decided to suspend the playing of a song in its stadium after it was found to have a troubling past.

St Pauli Hamburg are dropping their stadium anthem at least for the time being because research has revealed a Nazi past of the songwriter, the Bundesliga club said on Friday. St Pauli said that Josef Ollig,