European ministers defended the right of their country’s soccer teams to express their views in support of the LGBT community during the World Cup matches in Qatar.
French Sports Minister Amelie Castera called on her country’s national team to show its support for human rights during the World Cup in Qatar, according to the French newspaper L’Equipe.
She said that there is a “space of freedom” that can be used to show support for all forms of human rights, praising the movement that the German national team made yesterday, when the players muzzled their mouths, in reference to their objection to the ban on wearing the “One Love” badge during matches.
While the minister supported the French President’s call not to “politicize sport”, she stressed that human rights are “part of the principles of the state” represented by the French national team.
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In the context, German Interior Minister Nancy Weser showed her support for her country’s national team, when she attended the German national team’s match against Japan, wearing the colored gay badge.
The German minister sat in the main booth, where senior attendees, including the old FIFA President Gianni Infantino, emphasized the prohibition of this flag in matches, and the imposition of penalties on players if they wear it.
Yesterday, an argument by Habib, the Belgian Foreign Minister, also appeared, carrying the homosexuality badge on her arm while watching her country’s match against Canada in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, in protest against the ban on promoting all signs related to homosexuality.
And last Monday, 7 European teams withdrew from wearing badges supporting homosexuality during the World Cup matches, for fear of the penalties that FIFA announced its intention to impose on violators during the Qatar World Cup 2022.
“As national federations, we cannot put our players in a position where they may be subject to penalties, including yellow cards, from the moment they take to the field,” the seven teams said in a joint statement.
The statement was issued by England, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Wales and Switzerland.