German national team defender Antonio Rudiger and the German Football Federation (DFB) have taken legal action against a journalist who made disparaging remarks online regarding a post from Rudiger at the beginning of the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan.

Rudiger, a practicing Muslim, shared a photo of himself in a white robe on a prayer mat on March 11 on Instagram, accompanied by the caption, "May the almighty accept our fasting and prayers."

Journalist Julian Reichelt claimed on X on Sunday that Rudiger's gesture of raising his index finger was an "Islamist" symbol.

This prompted Rudiger and the DFB to file a criminal complaint on Monday for alleged insult or defamation, incitement to offend, and incitement to hatred.

Rudiger's management and the DFB confirmed the complaint to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), filed on Monday with the Berlin prosecutor's office by Rudiger and with the Central Unit for the Suppression of Internet Crime (ZIT) in Frankfurt by the DFB.

Reichelt maintained his view in another X post late on Monday and insisted: "Even and especially because it is about a popular national player, you can't allow yourself to be intimidated ... What Antonio Rudiger and the DFB are using here are methods of intimidation."

Germany's Interior Ministry was quoted by Bild, which first reported on the case, as saying that Rudiger's gesture "is to be understood as a profession of faith and can therefore be categorized as unproblematic in terms of public safety.

"This applies regardless of the fact that ... groups are appropriating this symbol and misusing it for their own purposes."

The ministry added that raising the finger could be seen as a sign of Salafism or conservative religious symbol in certain contexts if actors deliberately make use of this ambiguity.

"It depends on the individual case," the ministry said.