Germany may not be wearing the rainbow “OneLove” armbands at this World Cup, but they are still getting their message across.
Prior to their first game of the World Cup against Japan, each Germany player covered his mouth during the pre-match team photo. The move was a protest against FIFA’s move to threaten players who wear the OneLove armband with yellow cards, which caused seven European countries to back off their pledge to wear them.
“We wanted to use our captain’s armband to take a stand for values that we hold in the Germany national team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard,” read a statement from Germany’s federation on Twitter.
“It wasn’t about making a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable. That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important to us. Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.”
We wanted to use our captain’s armband to take a stand for values that we hold in the Germany national team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard.
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) November 23, 2022
Seven European countries, including Germany, said they planned for their captains to wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup, which contains a rainbow heart logo. The armband was seen as a protest against host nation Qatar, which criminalizes homosexuality.
But those plans were scrapped when FIFA said captains wearing the armbands could automatically receive yellow cards.
“We can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games,” the seven federations said in a joint statement.
In response to the armband controversy, FIFA introduced its own armbands for players to wear during the World Cup. Germany captain Manuel Neuer could be seen wearing that armband during the Japan match, with the referee even checking before the match to ensure he was wearing the correct attire around his arm.
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