Germany have risked disciplinary action from FIFA after their players covered their mouths during a team photo at the World Cup in a OneLove armband protest.
The move marked another day of tension between the seven European nations who supported the OneLove campaign and FIFA, with the group – which also includes the English and Welsh FAs – exploring their legal options over this matter.
The Football Association declined to comment on whether the England team would copy the German gesture ahead of their match against the United States on Friday.
Speaking about the ‘covered mouths’ gesture after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Japan, Germany coach Hansi Flick said: “It was a sign, a message that we wanted to send out. We wanted to convey the message that FIFA is silencing us.”
Flick was referring to the fact that the OneLove group were threatened by FIFA with sporting sanctions – starting with the issuing of yellow cards to their captains – if the rainbow-coloured armbands were worn.
The OneLove campaign started in September and runs for a year but was set to be especially significant during the World Cup in Qatar, a country where same-sex relationships are criminalised.
The PA news agency understands lawyers for the group are looking at the regulations to examine the sanctions the associations were threatened with. Danish FA chief executive Jakob Jensen confirmed legal options were being explored but said the group could not immediately go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The German gesture could prompt disciplinary action from FIFA under Article 11 of its disciplinary code. It states that anyone “using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature” may be sanctioned. FIFA has yet to comment on what the German team did.
A tweet from the German federation read: “We wanted to use our captain’s armband to take a stand for values that we hold in the Germany national team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard.
“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.”
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