Tributes to Floyd deserve "applause, not punishment"

Faced with the gestures of certain footballers in tribute to George Floyd, theoretically liable to sanctions, Fifa on Tuesday called the organizers of competitions to show "common sense" while its president Gianni Infantino asked "applause and not a sanction" . This position of Fifa comes the day after the announcement of an investigation in the Bundesliga.

Fifa "fully understands the depth of the feelings and concerns expressed by many footballers in light of the tragic circumstances of the George Floyd case", died during his arrest in the United States by the police, wrote the international body in a press release.

Jordan, Hamilton, Williams, Thuram are indignant at the death of George Floyd https://t.co/WEu16MpKIZ

Fifa, which "repeatedly expressed its opposition to all forms of racism and discrimination" recalls that the application of the laws of the game approved by the IFAB "is left to the organizers of the competitions, who must demonstrate good behavior meaning and take into consideration the context surrounding the events ”.

Three players targeted

Gianni Infantino believes that "to remove any ambiguity with regard to FIFA competitions, the recent protests by players during Bundesliga matches should be applauded and not sanctioned". “We must all say no to any form of racism and discrimination. We must all say no to violence and all forms of violence, "added Gianni Infantino, in statements sent to AFP on Tuesday evening.

On Monday, after gestures by several players in the German championship last weekend, the German Football Federation (DFB) announced that its disciplinary committee would look into these gestures of tribute to George Floyd. The commission is to rule on the cases of players from Schalke Weston McKennie and Dortmund Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi who expressed their indignation by wearing an armband for the first and by revealing messages on T-shirts for the other two.

Tributes from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Thuram to George Floyd today 🙏 pic.twitter.com/3kbjwrIV83

On the other hand, the French striker Mönchengladbach Marcus Thuram, who had put a knee on the ground after a goal and thus resumed a gesture popularized by the American football player Colin Kaepernick to denounce the police violence against the black population in the United States, is not affected by this procedure.

Rainer Koch, vice-president of the DFB, said that it remained to be determined whether or not the players concerned deserved sanction. "During the investigation, it will be necessary to check whether a match or a playing field is the appropriate place for this type of action," he said, remarks nuanced by the president of the federation Fritz Keller who said "Understand" the gesture of the players.

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