The German FA has suggested that FIFA ‘denied them a voice’ as they staged a powerful protest in their World Cup opener against Japan.
Manuel Neuer was expected to wear the OneLove armband for the game in what was intended to be a show of solidarity with marginalised LGBTQ+ communities in host country Qatar. However, a row broke out ahead of the tournament with FIFA threatening automatic sporting sanctions should they be worn.
That caused an array of countries to back out of the plan including England and the Netherlands, with Germany also following suit. Despite that, Die Mannschaft still chose to make a stand before their clash with Japan as their starting XI lined up for a team photo and each player covered their mouth.
