Belgium must cover “Love” inscription: “FIFA leaves us no choice”

“Word Must Go”

According to the Belgian Football Association, the “Red Devils” have to play with a modified third jersey at the World Cup in Qatar. Accordingly, the word “Love”, which was incorporated on the inside of these jerseys, must be removed again. “The word love has to go,” the president of the Belgian association RBFA, Peter Bossaert, was quoted as saying in the Belgian media. “It’s sad, but FIFA doesn’t give us a choice.”

The kit in question features the colors of the rainbow and is intended to reflect the values ​​of diversity, equality and inclusion. The lettering on the inside, however, was warned. FIFA had previously caused a stir by pressuring eight European federations, including Belgium’s, for wanting their captains to wear the ‘One Love’ armband. The associations concerned shied away from yellow cards for their captains.

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According to DFB director Oliver Bierhoff, the lost showdown with the world football association is also having a negative impact on the national team’s sporting preparations for the start of the World Cup against Japan. Given the timing of FIFA’s dictates, the 54-year-old spoke of a special pressure that players who wanted to concentrate on their sporting tasks at the controversial tournament in Qatar would be subjected to. Captain Manuel Neuer and his teammates are now often accused of weaknesses of character.

“I’m close to the action of the day. It’s really annoying. FIFA says it’s about football. It’s about the players being able to prepare well,” Bierhoff said on Tuesday in a joint statement with DFB President Bernd Neuendorf at the DFB team’s training center in Al-Shamal. The threat of punishment from FIFA also surprised and disappointed Neuer, reported Bierhoff, who criticized the world association.

DFB director Bierhoff on the FIFA ban on the “One Love” armband: “Really sad”

“The campaign didn’t just start yesterday. They have known for a long time that we wanted to wear the bandage.” However, they had to wait until the first games of those European teams that wanted to wear the bandage for human dignity in Qatar. The decision was made “very deliberately” in time, Bierhoff criticized: “Such a pressure situation, knowing full well that both players and coaches are with their heads in the game, it is difficult to make a decision even within the group. This is really sad.”

“We are witnessing an unprecedented event in World Cup history. […] We don’t want the conflict we have with FIFA to be settled on the players’ backs.”

The statement from @DFB-President Bernd Neuendorf on the captain’s armband in the video #GER #WM2022 pic.twitter.com/HfzGTPrrQn

— DFB Team (@DFB_Team) November 21, 2022

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