‘Colour of mourning’: Denmark’s World Cup ‘protest’ kit is a statement against Qatar’s human rights record

For the football World Cup 2022, Denmark’s kit supplier Hummel made a statement with the designs of the jerseys and protested against the hosts Qatar for the alleged human rights record. 

Hummel said on Wednesday (September 28) that it will hide its logo on the jerseys to be worn at the upcoming showpiece event as they “don’t wish to be visible during a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives”. 

FIFA World Cup 2022 is set to start in Qatar on 20 November and the final match of the event is scheduled to be held on December 18, which also is Qatar National Day. 

Notably, FIFA’s World Cup rules prohibit political statements on the jerseys of the team. 

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In a statement, Hummel said, “With the Danish national team’s new jerseys, we wanted to send a dual message. They are not only inspired by Euro 92, paying tribute to Denmark’s greatest football success, but also a protest against Qatar and its human rights record.” 

“That’s why we’ve toned down all the details for Denmark’s new World Cup jerseys, including our logo and iconic chevrons. We don’t wish to be visible during a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives.” 

“We support the Danish national team all the way, but that isn’t the same as supporting Qatar as a host nation. We believe that sport should bring people together. And when it doesn’t, we want to make a statement,” the statement added. 

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Besides, the squad’s traditional red jersey, Hummel also presented a grey and black jersey with a barely visible logo. While releasing the black third-choice design, Hummel said in a post on Instagram: “The colour of mourning.” 

It added, “While we support the Danish national team all the way, this shouldn’t be confused with support for a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives,” the company said. 

In the past decade, Qatar has been at the centre of criticism for the alleged treatment of migrant workers, which were required by the authorities to build stadiums, roads, hotels and other infrastructure. 

But Qatar says that much of the criticism is unfair and that major reforms have changed conditions for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers. 

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