the Germans mimic a gag before their first match of the 2022 World Cup – Liberation

All Mannschaft players covered their mouths during the official photo before their start against Japan. An apparent protest at threats of sporting sanctions from Fifa to prevent the wearing of the ‘One Love’ armband in Qatar.

The gesture is highly symbolic. Germany’s players put their hands over their mouths in the team photo ahead of their World Cup opener against Japan on Monday, an apparent protest at threats of sporting sanctions from Fifa to prevent the wearing of the ‘One Love’ armband in Qatar.

On social networks, the German federation quickly explained the gesture. Stating that it was not “not from a political posture” car “Human rights are non-negotiable”the German Football Association develops: “It should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t. This is why this message is so important to us. Denying us the armband is like denying us a voice. We maintain our position.”

The seven European federations, including Germany, which had planned to wear a colored “One Love” armband against discrimination, gave up on Monday in the face of the threat of “sporting penalties” by Fifa, which did not specify them. This threat has been widely criticized in Germany where many voices have been raised calling on Mannschaft players to defy it. Which they did in their own way.

Before, the English and Iranian examples

“We were prepared to pay applicable fines for breaking equipment rules and were very committed to this armband, had explained the Belgian, Dutch, Swiss, German, Danish, English and Welsh federations – France had backpedaled in mid-November. But we cannot put our players in the situation where they could be warned, or even have to leave the field.

This World Cup is definitely the scene of symbolic gestures. Already Monday, the Iranian players had signaled themselves by not singing the anthem of their country. During the previous week, midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh explained that the players would decide “collectively” whether or not to sing the national anthem as a sign of support for the victims of the harshly repressed demonstrations in their country. Immediately afterwards, the English players knelt down, as they had announced, to denounce the “inequality” at large. A gesture which was accepted by Fifa.

In addition, on the sporting level, the match resulted in a new surprise. The Japanese won 2 goals to 1 despite strong German domination. This is the second highlight of this World Cup after Saudi Arabia’s victory against Argentina yesterday.

Updated at 4:06 p.m.: match result.