The captains of eight European selections, including the France world champion, will wear an armband with colored stripes at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in favor of inclusion and against discrimination, several federations announced on Wednesday.
At the World Cup, the captains of major European football teams will have on their arm an armband emblazoned with a heart filled with six parallel stripes, the colors of which differ from those of the LGBT flag.
The German Federation specified that the initiative, baptized “One Love”came from a UEFA working group tasked with studying the “labour and human rights issues in Qatar leading up to the 2022 World Cup”.
“The love of football unites us all, No matter where we come from, how we look or who we love (…) football must be there for all those who feel discriminated against and rejected”explained the German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Also associated are the selections of the Netherlandsfrom Walesof Belgiumfrom Denmarkfrom Suisseas well as Norway and some Swedenthese last two countries not being qualified, however, for the World Cup.
The campaign will start on Thursday September 22 with Nations League matches.
Qatar at the heart of NGO criticism
The authorities of the small Gulf emirate, where the World Cup will be held from November 20, are regularly criticized by NGOs for their treatment of migrant workers, particularly in the construction, security and domestic work sectors. , as well as LGBT+ people. Homosexuality is punishable by death.
Accusations vigorously rejected by the authorities who emphasize having reformed labor laws, and by the Qatari organizers of the Mondial who ensure that members of the LGBT + community will be welcomed without discrimination, despite laws criminalizing sexual relations between people of the same sex in the country.