Germany protests over 'One Love' armband ban in FIFA 2022; 'We stand by position...'

After European teams were not allowed to wear 'One Love' armbands during the ongoing FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, Germany protested on Wednesday. During the group photoshoot, right before its E-Group encounter against Japan, German players put covered their mouths with their hands. 

A picture of the same was shared by the team on Twitter, which had 'Armband or no armband, we stand by our position' written on it. In an elaborate message put as a caption, the team highlighted that it wanted to use its captain's armband to take a stand for values that they held in Germany- 'diversity and mutual respect'. The team cleared that it was not about making 'a political statement', with its clear stance that 'human rights are non-negotiable' that should be 'taken for granted'.

They further wrote, "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."

Manuel Neuer checked for 'One Love' armband 

FIFA, in a last-minute decision, banned the 'One Love' armband that was to be used by seven countries to spread a message of support and unity. The football governing body threatened captains with yellow cards or even one-match suspensions prompting a U-turn from all countries.

“As national federations we can’t let our players face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked our captains not to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games,” their joint statement read.

Despite going with the generic 'No Discrimination' armband, Manuel Neuer, the captain and goalkeeper of Germany was checked by linesman Zachari Zeegelaar, photos of which are now going viral. 

This is amid news of the German Football Association planning to take FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the ban on rainbow armbands. “FIFA has forbidden us from using a symbol of diversity and human rights. It said the ban would be linked to massive penalties (in the nature of) sporting sanctions without concretising exactly what it meant. The DFB is keen to clarify whether Fifa’s procedure is in fact legitimate,” Stefan Simon, the spokesperson was quoted as saying.