After Norway, Germany. In the aftermath of the demonstration of support from the players of the Norwegian selection in favour of the migrants employed on the sites of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Mannschaft joined the movement before their meeting against Iceland on Thursday, March 25th. The German players lined up on the pitch before kick-off, wearing shirts displaying the “HUMAN RIGHTS” message. After the match, midfielder Leon Goretzka, scorer of the first goal, told RTL: “The World Cup is looming, there will be discussions about it. We wanted to show that we are not ignoring this debate. We wrote the letters ourselves. It seemed important to us to take advantage of our impact with supporters to set an example of the values we want to defend. The message was clear”. Earlier today, FIFA said in a statement that it would not initiate any disciplinary proceedings. “FIFA believes in freedom of expression and in the power of football as a force for good“, the international body said in a statement.
