The initiative was initiated by an entry by Axel Hellmann, spokesman of the management board of Eintracht Frankfurt. “If Munich cannot do it on Wednesday, other stadiums in the country will have to show these colors. To the work of the Bundesliga clubs! Deutsche Bank Park will turn on the rainbow for the match between Germany and Hungary. The Waldstadion will remain in color!” – wrote the spokesman on Twitter.
Apart from Eintracht Frankfurt, the stadium in Cologne has also joined the action. A spokesman for Koelner Sportstatten, which manages the facility, confirmed the stadium’s rainbow lighting in an interview with “Westdeutscher Rundfunk”.
The stadium in Munich will not be lit in the colors of the rainbow
Munich’s Allianz Arena has made a request for the stadium’s rainbow lighting, which is scheduled for Wednesday 23 June and the match between Germany and Hungary. UEFA, however, rejected the application in this matter, but offered Munich to illuminate the stadium on June 28 (as part of Christopher Street Liberation Day, celebrated annually by LGBT people) or in the week of July 3-9.
UEFA argued that the negative decision had to be taken because, according to its statute, it is a politically and religiously neutral organization. It rejected the application due to the visible political context of the application. As reported by kicker.de, the organization’s arguments were also justified by the vice-president of the German Football Association. “Since the Munich city council justified the lighting as a targeted action against the decision of the Hungarian parliament, it is no longer a mere statement in the joint fight against any form of discrimination, but a political action,” wrote Rainer Koch on Facebook.
Earlier, controversy was also raised by the rainbow capital band, which Manuel Neuer put on for Euro 2020 matches. In this way, the player wanted to show support for the LGBT community and support the Duma Month in June. UEFA has initiated proceedings regarding the goalkeeper, but the footballer will not be punished. In this case, the organization considered the rainbow band “a symbol of diversity used for a good cause”.
The Munich initiative is a response to a new law that has recently been passed in Hungary. The parliament there passed a law restricting students’ access to information on homosexuality and transsexuality. During classes in schools that will deal with issues of sexuality, such issues as gender change or homosexuality must not arise.
