Another protest during this controversial men 's soccer world cup in Qatar , this time at the opening match between Germany and Japan .
The German national team posed in the traditional team photo with their hand over their mouth, as if to say: "They silenced us". The reference is to Fifa's decision to ban the rainbow heart band with the words "One love" that some captains would have liked to wear in favor of LGBTQ rights.
«We wanted to use our captain's armband to take a stand on the values we have in the German national team: diversity and mutual respect - reads a tweet from the German national team - Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard. It was not about making a political statement: human rights are not negotiable. It should be obvious, but it's not yet. That's why this message is so important to us. Denying us the band is like silencing a voice».
The German Football Federation (Dfb) had already made it known that it would not end with the Fifa ban : "They prevented us from using a symbol that concerns diversity and human rights - the words of Steffen Simon, media manager of the Federation - They combined this with massive threats of sporting sanctions without specifying them and at this point we will verify whether this action taken by FIFA is legal.
Even the German government spokesman sided with Neuer and his companions : "The national team represents our country and our diversity and as a government we believe that sport can autonomously choose its own tools to promote values such as diversity and tolerance".
(Unioneonline/D)
