In the midst of what has been a great controversy over the restrictions that the organizers of the Qatar World Cup 2022 have placed on the LGBTQ+ community, different national teams who will participate in this tournament have expressed their rejection of discrimination and have taken action on the matter.
Such is the case of the teams from England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Wales, France, Denmark and Germany, who have made the decision that their captains will wear the colors of the LGBTQ+ community in their distinctive band, during the matches they play, as reported by UEFA.
Said armbands “against discrimination”, they will have a heart with the colors that represent “diversity” with the inscription One Love. This initiative was already used by the aforementioned national teams during recent UEFA Nations League matches.
The rejection or restrictions that have been placed on the LGBT community by the organizers of the Qatar World Cup 2022, has been only one of the issues for which this event has generated so much controversy, however, within football itself there are many people, clubs and federations that have spoken out in favor of gender diversity.
One of the first in being in favor of this decision, was the goalkeeper and captain of Germany, Manuel Neuer. “The love of football unites us all. It doesn’t matter where we come from, what we look like or who we love. It must be there for all those who feel discriminated against and excluded, in all parts of the world. I am proud to send this message together with my fellow captains from other nations, because every vote counts,” he said.
For its part, the English federation highlighted the importance of this action: “The support of The FA to the ‘One Love’ campaign is one part of its wider commitment to demonstrate the values of the England organization and team, while acknowledging that progress has been made in Qatar since the award of the tournament.
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