GERMANY’S FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (DFB) said today it was examining if Fifa’s threat to impose disciplinary action against players who wear the One Love armband at the World Cup tournament is legal.
The armbands had been viewed as a symbolic protest against laws in World Cup host Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
Captains of several European teams had planned to wear the rainbow-themed armband as part of a campaign for diversity during the tournament hosted by Qatar, but they have backed down over the threat of FIFA disciplinary action.
“FIFA banned us from showing a sign for diversity and human rights. They combined this with massive threats of sports sanctions without specifying what these would be,” DFB spokesman Steffen Simon told AFP’s sports subsidiary SID.
“The DFB is checking if this action by Fifa is legal,” he added.
German daily Bild said the DFB could bring the case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Lausanne-based international sports court said however that the case should first be put to a Fifa appeal commission.
It added that “there is no precedence at the CAS for this kind of authorisation refusal.”
German fans have been vocal about their opposition to Qatar as a host for the World Cup, with supporters of several high-profile Bundesliga clubs including Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund urging boycotts.
But the German national team was also drawing fire for failing to take a stronger stand against Fifa’s stance on the armbands.
Earlier today, major German supermarket chain REWE said it was ending its partnership with the German football association with immediate effect over what it described as Fifa’s “scandalous attitude” in the escalating row over diversity.
Meanwhile Belgium’s Jan Vertonghen says he is “afraid” to talk about human rights after European nations decided not to wear a rainbow-themed captain’s armband.
Vertonghen, speaking on the eve of Belgium’s opening game against Canada, said he did not feel comfortable.
“I’m afraid if I say something about this I might not be able to play tomorrow,” the defender said today.
“It’s an experience I’ve never felt in football before. I feel controlled. I’m afraid to even say something about this.
“We’re just saying normal things about racism and discrimination and if you can’t even say things about it, that says it all.
“I want to appear on the pitch tomorrow, so I’ll leave it at that.”
Fifa has also banned Belgium from wearing a rainbow-tinged second kit with the word “Love” on the collar.
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