National goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will lead the German team at the World Cup in Qatar as a sign against discrimination and for diversity with a special captain’s armband.
This adorns “a heart in bright colors that stand for diversity, as well as the inscription ‘One Love'”, as the DFB announced.
The captain’s armband will be premiered in the upcoming Nations League games on Friday in Leipzig against Hungary and three days later in England. Then Thomas Müller is the first representative of Neuer as captain, since the goalkeeper is out due to a positive corona test.
“The love of football unites us all. It doesn’t matter where we come from, what we look like and who we love. Football is for everyone,” Neuer said in a statement before he left the DFB hotel. Football must “be there for everyone who feels discriminated against and excluded, all over the world. I am proud to send this message together with my fellow captains from other nations. Because every vote counts.”
“It’s important for us, but also for other nations, to make a statement,” said international Jonas Hofmann. The Mönchengladbacher countered the criticism expressed in social networks that the bandage did not have the original colors of the rainbow. “A few colors from the rainbow colors are already in there,” said Hofmann. The symbolism is already well known.
According to the DFB, the campaign is “a joint action” by the national teams of England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Wales, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany. The idea came from within the UEFA Working Group. The working group will address human and labor rights issues in Qatar leading up to the World Cup, which begins on November 20.