Berlin (AFP)
The German Football Federation (DFB) announced on Wednesday that it will not sanction the tributes of players to George Floyd in matches in the Bundesliga.
"The federation intends to maintain this decision for the next (championship) days, even in the event of new anti-racist actions following the violent death of George Floyd," announced the DFB.
"I expressly welcome the clear-sighted decision of the supervisory board of the DFB and I am very happy with it", welcomed the president of the DFB, Fritz Keller, in a press release, clarifying that "the actions of the players have our respect and our understanding. "
Several players had last weekend paid tribute to this 46-year-old black man, who died on May 25 in Minneapolis (United States) by repeating "I can't breathe" ("I can't breathe"), while 'He was kept on the ground under the knee of a white policeman whose colleagues remained passive.
Sunday, Dortmund's young English striker Jadon Sancho (20), as well as Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi, displayed a T-shirt with the inscription "Justice for George Floyd" after scoring each goal.
The referee then sanctioned the first with a yellow card for removing his jersey, in accordance with the rules, while the Moroccan, who had just lifted it, had escaped.
On the same day, Mönchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram, son of 1998 French world champion Lilian Thuram, knelt down to celebrate a goal.
This gesture had been popularized by the player of NFL (American Football League) Colin Kaepernick, become a spokesperson for the protests in the United States against police violence, in particular against the colored minorities.
The day before, it was the American Weston McKennie of the Schalke 04 club, who had worn an "Justice for George" armband.
Cologne striker Anthony Modeste on Monday showed him the two sides of his hand, white and black, as if to evoke unity between peoples.
© 2020 AFP