Germany cover mouths in protest over “onelove” armband
Human rights cannot be negotiated. Before their World Cup match against Japan, Germany’s athletes displayed their disdain for Fifa by covering their lips with their hands and donning rainbow stripes on their warm-up shirts and boots.
The German Football Association sent a strong warning to football’s regulatory body immediately after the game began: “Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We maintain our position. Making a political statement wasn’t the goal because human rights are unalienable. Even while that ought to be common knowledge, it still isn’t. This is the reason this message is so crucial to us.”
Their message was reinforced by the German interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who also wore a OneLove armband, which promotes tolerance, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights, as she sat next to Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.
Germany cover mouths in protest over “onelove” armband
Germany are one of seven nations, including England and Wales, who were banned by Fifa from wearing the armband on Sunday. The fear of sporting sanctions – including captains receiving a yellow card at kickoff – had led the teams to backtrack from their promise to wear the OneLove in their World Cup matches.
However Danish football federation chief executive, Jakob Jensen, has confirmed that those nations were now exploring legal options to overturn Fifa’s decision.
