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Germany and Japan are locking horns with each other in a Group E match of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Both teams are playing this match at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. Apart from the action of the match, the national football team of German had ignited a controversy with a message to FIFA with a gesture just ahead of the start of the match.
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DFB-Team led by the 36-year-old senior Goalkeeper Manuel was seen protesting with a unique gesture against FIFA’s decision of banning the German team, to wear one love armband during the ongoing edition of the World Cup 2022.
“They would face "massive" sporting sanctions if they broke tournament rules by allowing their captain to wear the armband which promotes diversity and inclusion,” stated the warning issued by FIFA.
Responding to the same, German players were seen covering their faces with their faces as a sign of protest against FIFA’s decision regarding the one love armband.
Here’s how Germany’s national football team protested against the move of FIFA:
Germany with a clear message to FIFA in their team photo after not being allowed to wear the OneLove🏳️🌈 armband. 🤐#GER | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/NOmTfPKycV
— DIALY SPORTS+ 🇬🇭💎 (@waakye6) November 23, 2022
Due to this armband controversy, one of the sponsors of DFB, REWE (the biggest supermarket chain in Germany) has pulled back from their deal with the team.
"We stand for diversity and football is diversity. The scandalous behavior of FIFA is for me as the CEO of a diverse company, as well as a football fan, absolutely unacceptable,” said REWE’s CEO, Lionel Souque.
Germany’s media director Steffen Simon also talked about the same and expressed his opinion regarding the same.
"The tournament director went to the English team and talked about multiple rule violations and threatened with massive sporting sanctions without specifying what these would be," said Simon to Deutschlandfunk radio.
"We lost the armband and it is very painful but we are the same people as before with the same values. We are not impostors who claim they have values and then betray them," Simon stated further.