Germany’s national football team sparked controversy this afternoon prior to their game against Japan, for their symbolic protest denouncing host Qatar’s laws against homosexuality.
While posing for the customary team picture, the German players held their hands on their mouths, a reply to FIFA’s restrictions on on-field protests, and decisions to ban the “One Love” armband.
Before the World Cup, several European countries lined up to wear Human Rights and LGBTQ+ rights “One Love” armband to show solidarity with the community, planned to be worn by team captains.
The teams eventually decided against wearing the band, fearing sanctions from FIFA and and repercussions with other teams.
England’s Harry Kane didn’t wear the armband out of caution during his team’s game against Iran, as he stated in a press conference after the fixture.
The German National Team came up with a different way of replying to FIFA’s regulations, and to “safely“ voice disagreement with the federation and Qatar.
The German Football Federation DFP, tweeted regarding the gesture: “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.”
The Tweet was followed by a post from the German Federation, where they express their unwavering position and state that human rights are “non-negotiable.”
[https://twitter.com/DFB\_Team\_EN/status/1595405787953827840?s=20&t=BomWYsYWW5mvK4vJP3Kl9A](https://twitter.com/DFB_Team_EN/status/1595405787953827840?s=20&t=BomWYsYWW5mvK4vJP3Kl9A “”)
The DFP received heavy backlash following the tweet, as many fans called out ‘hypocrisy’ from the federation, saying that many of them recall events such as the country’s history in the 20th century, or discrimination against foreign players in Germany.
For reference, a number of german players were subject to “racist” treatment in the country, more notably the case of Turkish descent player Mesut Ozil, who publicly denounced events he deemed unjust from the German Federation against Uyghur Muslims.
Twitter users who stand to support Germany’s statement believe that human rights are above all arguments, one follower responded to the backlash by recalling events where, in 2015, Saudi National Team players refused to board a bus driven by a woman in Australia.
[https://twitter.com/GuidoTresoldi/status/1595415065485639680?s=20&t=BomWYsYWW5mvK4vJP3Kl9A](https://twitter.com/GuidoTresoldi/status/1595415065485639680?s=20&t=BomWYsYWW5mvK4vJP3Kl9A “”)
The game ended with a 2-1 victory for Japan, who ‘unexpectedly’ held Germany off after conceding in the first half with two goals in the 75th and 83rd minutes of the game.
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