The controversy over the ‘One Love’ bracelet at the World Cup in Qatar continues, after the European teams that promoted the initiative backtracked and announced that they would not wear the rainbow bracelet after threats from FIFA. In its newscast last night, the first German public television channel, ARD, issued a comment saying that it was better for Germany to “lose points and be eliminated in the group stage with the bracelet than to be world champion without the bracelet.” ”.
“We have not kneeled before FIFA. We understand the disappointment and outrage. We were subjected to extreme blackmail in which we thought we had to make this decision even though we didn’t want to make it,” explained the DFB communication director.
The newspaper “Bild” headlines “Shame on you” on the front page and adds that the German team yields to FIFA. In his commentary, the newspaper recalls that the national team has given Germany great moments such as the miracle of Bern in 1954, the reunification title in 1990 or the 7-1 victory against Brazil in 2014. “On November 21, 2022 also will go down in history. Like a day of shame,” he added.
“The tournament director went to the English camp and talked about a multiple rule violation that would take place if the bracelet was worn and threatened major sanctions,” he explained. FIFA did not want to specify what type of sanctions they would be. “That’s part of FIFA’s game, not to provide clarity to the federations about what sanctions would be,” Simon explained. Some German media, the newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and the magazine “Kicker” spoke of “methods typical of a gangster movie”.
These are some of the quotes that we have been able to hear from the German media. The climate of tension in the country is very great. They do not agree with the rules of this World Cup.
In an interview after training, German national team player Leon Goretzka harshly criticized FIFA: “Symbolic images are certainly more important at this World Cup than at the last Euro. I’m pretty sure we’ll see these signs here in Qatar. “As a team, we welcome all signs of diversity and against discrimination. It is incomprehensible that FIFA is now threatening sanctions for using it many weeks after the joint action became known.”
“To return to his words: one can only hope that FIFA does not need 3,000 years to campaign effectively for human rights. Unfortunately, one does not get the feeling that Mr. Infantino understood what the whole discussion is about. And that is a pity. The danger is enormous”, added the player.
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