Qatar 2022, Germany shuts its mouth

Germany plugs its mouth before its match with Japan

Strong gesture by Germany before the game with Japan: in fact, German players posed for a team photo with their hand over their mouths before the game with Japan.

The reference is to the ban that has come from Fifa on wearing the rainbow ‘One Love’ armband: the captain of the Teutonic formation, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, was counted before the kick-off whistle to verify that he was indeed wearing the armband stipulated by Fifa, the ‘no discrimination’ one.

A few minutes after the start of the match, the German federation issued a statement through its Twitter profile, “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. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard. It was not about making a political statement: human rights are non-negotiable. It should be taken for granted, but it is still not. That’s why this message is so important to us. Denying us the armband is like turning off our voice. Let’s stand our ground.”