The German players were seen covering their mouths with their hands during the team photo ahead of their FIFA World Cup 2022 opener against Japan in protest over the ban of ‘One love armbands’ by FIFA. As reported earlier, FIFA had threatened and even blackmailed seven European teams (England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark) with sanctions if they wore the armband symbolising diversity and tolerance.
On Tuesday, the DFB’s media director Steffen Simon told German radio Deutschlandfunk that England, who had been the first team to be expected to wear it on Monday in their game against Iran, had been threatened with multiple sporting sanctions.
“The tournament director went to the English team and talked about multiple rule violations and threatened with massive sporting sanctions without specifying what these would be,” he said.
Simon further went on to add, “We lost the armband and it is very painful but we are the same people as before with the same values. We are not impostors who claim they have values and then betray them. We were in an extreme situation, in an extreme blackmail and we thought we had to take that decision without wanting to do so.”
On Wednesday, Germany took on Japan in their first match of the group E at the Khalifa International Stadium. By the time the first half ended, the four-time World Cup winners were leading 1-0, courtesy of a penalty from Ilkay Gundogan in the 33rd minute.
Other than Japan, Spain, and Costa Rica are the remaining two teams in Group E.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
