The World Cup in Qatar continues to cause discontent among the European teams. In particular, the participants of the One Love campaign, which is directed against any form of discrimination and for supporting inclusiveness.
England, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Wales and Belgium planned for their national team captains to wear special armbands. FIFA strongly opposed such actions and threatened the federations that the players would be punished – yellow cards immediately after the starting whistle.
As a result, not a single team at the World Cup in Qatar came out with a bandage – and does not hide discontent.
According to The Athletic, due to FIFA’s ban on expressing its position, the Danish Football Federation intends to raise the issue of UEFA’s withdrawal from FIFA. Danish football representatives want to have a dialogue with all 55 UEFA members.
The Danish national team has been one of the main fighters against the violation of the rights of migrants in Qatar since 2015. The Danish Football Federation announced that for every goal in all official tournaments under its auspices (from children’s and women’s leagues to the Danish Football Championship), it will donate 10 crowns ($1.33) to the builders’ and woodworkers’ union. She also prepared a black mourning uniform – it is inspired by the protests against human rights violations in Qatar.
Therefore, Denmark was one of the first to join the One Love campaign and reacts so sharply to FIFA’s bans on expressing its position.
The German national team started at the World Cup, and Manuel Neuer also intended to enter with a special armband. This did not happen due to pressure from FIFA.
“The power that the One Love headband has will be transferred to other teams in Western Europe. I think it’s good that we’re not alone and can make a joint statement. Many countries are involved in this, and communication was at a good level,” the goalkeeper said before the tournament.
He went to the game with Japan without a bandage, and the players of the national team covered their mouths and noses with their hands during a team photo in protest against the FIFA ban.
The German Football Association later clarified that it condemns FIFA’s decision.
“We wanted to use our captain’s armband to uphold the values we uphold in the German national team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard.
It was not a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable. This should be taken for granted, but it’s still not the case. That is why this message is so important to us. Denying us a bandage is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position,” the organization said in a statement.
According to Bild, the German side intends to sue FIFA in CAS. The Union is considering the option of applying for “interim relief” – decisions on such disputes are made by a special CAS department within 48 hours. The German national team expects that in case of victory in court, Neuer will be allowed to enter the second round match of the group stage against Spain.
It is noteworthy that the Minister of the Interior of Germany, Nancy Feser, came to the game with Japan – and the politician put on the same bandage against discrimination on her left hand.
The matter is not limited only to the ban on armbands – FIFA even forces you to change the form. The Belgian national team had to abandon the training kit, which has the colors of orange, yellow, pink and blue. It is assumed that the reason for the ban is the too bright palette of the T-shirt. There are no references to the One Love promotion or inscriptions on it, but FIFA insisted that Belgium not be annoyed by the colorful T-shirt of the hosts of the tournament.
Also, Belgium had to change the away kit, which had the inscription “Love”. FIFA, without explanation, demanded this two days before the start of the tournament. At the same time, the inscription is in no way connected with the One Love action against discrimination and generally refers to the electronic music festival, which is held in the Belgian city of Baum. FIFA was not convinced by these explanations.
In the end, Belgium agreed to the terms. For group stage matches, the national team will play in their home kit without a patch. And on the field kit, stickers will be applied to the inscription.
It seems that FIFA is simply afraid of any images that might appear to be LGBT-supportive. It got to the point of absurdity: the Brazilian journalist Victor Pereira was detained in Qatar for the flag, which they saw as similar to the LGBT rainbow flag. Although it was only the coat of arms of the state of Pernambuco with a tricolor rainbow.
