They refuse to be silenced. The ball started rolling in Qatar 2022. The eyes of the world are on the 32 participating teams; however, the host country has not escaped scandal or global ridicule.
One of the biggest criticisms against the Arab nation lies in the lack of freedoms for women and the deprivation of rights against the LGBTQ+ community. For this reason, several European team captains wanted to wear an armband in support of these minorities, something that FIFA strongly prevented.
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What is the One Love armband?
In the lead up to the World Cup, eight European teams announced that they had joined forces and would wear a rainbow armband, called One Love, in support of the LGBTQ+ community, which faces severe restrictions in Qatar, where homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment.
FIFA was against this measure from the start and banned its use. They threatened teams by stating that captains who wore the armband would be sanctioned with a yellow card before the matches started. In addition, they would impose a financial fine on each country's federation, considering it a political statement.
"FIFA has been very clear, it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field. As national federations, we cannot ask our players to risk sporting sanctions, including yellow cards," said the joint statement released by the European teams after FIFA's statement.
Did the captains of the European teams wear the armband?
The captain of England, Harry Kane, finally accepted the measure and did not wear the One Love armband. This was also imitated by the captain of France, Hugo Lloris.
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"We were ready to accept applicable fines in the event of non-compliance with the regulations on kits and were very committed to this armband. But we cannot put our players in a situation where they could be cautioned, or even have to leave the field," said the federations that were part of this human rights initiative in a statement.
The captains wore authorized armbands approved by FIFA with messages such as "No discrimination" or "Football unites the world".
The "One Love" armband caused controversy from the beginning due to the criticisms it represents towards the host country of the World Cup, Qatar. Foto: AFP
The most "rebellious" with this ban were the Germans. They decided to pose with one hand covering their mouths in the official photo before the match against Japan as a protest against FIFA, asserting that they are not allowed to express themselves freely.
"We wanted to use our captain's armband to defend the values that we have in the German team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard," declared the German team on social media to explain the gesture that quickly went viral.
The players of Germany covered their mouths as a protest against FIFA and Qatar. Foto: AFP
The German captain, Manuel Neuer, wanted to wear the armband, but FIFA's warnings ended up convincing him not to do so. However, he decided to show the colors of the LGBTQ+ community on his boots.
Germany and their protest gesture against Qatar and FIFA: "Human rights are not negotiable"
Minutes before the start of the match between Germany and Japan for the first match of the World Cup 2022, the European team had a particular way of posing for the protocol photo before the match. The Germans formed a line and covered their mouths as a protest against Qatar and FIFA, who did not allow the captains to wear the LGBTQ+ rainbow armband.
"With our captain's armband, we wanted to set an example of the values we live by in the team: diversity and mutual respect. Be loud together with other nations. This is not a political message: human rights are not negotiable,"
the German Football Federation posted on their social media accounts.