German players cover their mouths ahead of clash with Japan, as armband row escalates

German players covered their mouths in a Qatari stadium today ahead of their World Cup clash with Japan in protest of FIFA’s decision to ban an LGBTQ armband.

Their show of defiance in the Khalifa Stadium in Doha came after the world football governing body threatened sanctions against teams and their captains if they went ahead with their plan to wear the ‘OneLove’ armband – which had been viewed as a symbolic protest against laws in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.

All German players took part in the gesture in front of dozens of photographers on the pitch ahead of their Group E match kickoff, which ended with the four-time winners losing 2-1 to their Japanese opponents in another World Cup shock.

After the protest and as the match kicked off, the German Football Association (DFB) released an statement emphatically supporting its team, saying: ‘To ban the armband is like banning our right to speak.’

Meanwhile, watching from the stands, Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wore the armband instead. She had hidden it underneath a pink blazer, which she took off as the game began – revealing the band and its heart-shaped logo.

Credit: dailymail.co.uk