World Cup 2022: Germans tackle Fifa by covering their mouths
Players of the Germany team cover their mouths before kick-off in their match against Japan on November 23, 2022. A gesture addressed to Fifa, which banned the wearing of the One Love armband against discrimination and for diversity.
AP - Matthias Schrader
Text by: Nicolas Bamba Follow
2 mins
At the opening of the Germany-Japan match, Wednesday, November 23 in Doha, the players of the Nationalmannschaft covered their mouths before the traditional pre-match photo.
A gesture to protest against Fifa which had threatened sanctions for the selections which would play in Qatar with the One Love armband.
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Faced with threats of "sports sanctions" brandished by the International Football Federation (Fifa), the seven European teams* who had planned to wear a "One Love" armband
during the current World Cup
, as a sign of inclusion and diversity and against discrimination,
renounced it at the beginning of the week
.
They intended to wear this armband to their captains while Qatar, the host country of the 2022 World Cup, is the subject of criticism vis-à-vis human rights and the
treatment of LGBTQ + people and migrant workers
.
But the players of the German team did not intend to remain without reaction for their entry into competition against Japan on Wednesday.
Manuel Neuer, the captain and goalkeeper of the Nationalmannschaft (the national team), did not have a "One Love" armband, but he and his teammates found a way to respond to Fifa.
When posing for the pre-match photo, the eleven Germans covered their mouths with one hand.
Under the eyes of
Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa
, present in the international stadium of Khalifa.
Wir wollten mit unserer Kapitänsbinde ein Zeichen setzen für Werte, die wir in der Nationalmannschaft leben: Vielfalt und gegenseitiger Respekt.
Gemeinsam mit anderen Nationen laut sein.
Es geht dabei nicht um eine politische Botschaft: Menschenrechte sind nicht verhandelbar.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/v9ngfv0ShW
— DFB-Team (@DFB_Team) November 23, 2022
“
Human rights are non-negotiable
”
In the aftermath, on Twitter and other social networks, the German Football Association published a scathing statement: "
With our captain's armband, we wanted to show the values that we live within the national team: Diversity and respect mutual.
Make noise together with other nations.
»
“
This is not a political message: human rights are non-negotiable.
It should be obvious.
Unfortunately, this is still not the case.
This is why this message is so important to us.
Forbidding us to wear the blindfold is forbidding us to speak.
Our position is clear.
»
In the stands, the Minister of the Interior in charge of Sports, Nancy Faeser, also took a stand.
Sitting alongside Gianni Infantino, she removed her jacket, revealing the famous “One Love” armband on her arm, which Fifa did not want to see on the field.
German politician Nancy Faeser sat next to FIFA president Gianni Infantino wearing a OneLove armband.
🌈
She concealed it under a red jacket and then took it off.👏 pic.twitter.com/1XOFa9Lpd0
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) November 23, 2022
In wanting to ban its distribution, Fifa has shed a little more light on the “One Love” armband, the message it carries and the criticisms it formulates.
► To read also: A Qatari ambassador for the 2022 World Cup describes homosexuality as "mental damage", Berlin condemns
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