On Wednesday, Germany’s captain Manuel Neuer didn’t end up wearing the rainbow “OneLove” armband that some teams, including England, wanted to display in 2022 World Cup games.
That was due to the continued threat of an immediate yellow card for the captain who wore an armband not approved by FIFA.
But the German team found a way to make a statement about being censored before its opening match in Qatar against Japan: The entire team posed for its pre-match photo with players putting their hands over their mouths.
That’s certainly noteworthy, and I wonder if other teams will follow suit in future games:
Germany before kicking off at the World Cup: 🤐 pic.twitter.com/Kbms7yg81c
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 23, 2022
Manuel Neuer's armband being checked by the linesman. #GER | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/eUGzoO09Ua
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) November 23, 2022
It wasn’t about making a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable. That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important to us.
Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position. pic.twitter.com/tiQKuE4XV7
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) November 23, 2022
