What is the most effective answer to your voice being silenced? To make a show of that silence and thus make it louder than the voice. Germany’s 11 starting players posed for their official team photograph, as ever they do. Up went 11 hands to 11 mouths. Their message was delivered more loudly than ever.
High up in the stands of the Khalifa International Stadium, Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, stood in a sleeveless top. Around her left arm was a OneLove armband. At least someone official was allowed to wear it.
This is the way to respond to the weighty arm of authoritarianism being forced down upon you. It granted Germany a moment to explain, on their own terms, their position. That they were never making a political statement because human rights, by definition, are not political. They are non-negotiable values and should be treated as such.
Earlier on, Belgium’s Jan Vertonghen accused Fifa of controlling individuals. He, and this German XI, demonstrate the power of players. They are not robots, they have values. They are not simply Fifa’s World Cup pawns and there would be no tournament without them.
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There will be those that say this is all gesture politics; to some extent they are right. But it is also a statement, made with millions watching, from one of the highest-profile national teams in world football to the organisation that governs them: “We will not let you bully us into submission”. If Germany are the first to make that statement, others will find it easier to follow.
It is uncomfortable to force responsibility upon footballers. They have worked and waited for their entire lives for the chance to win a World Cup and they did not choose for the tournament to be played here. But they also have a power that others lack because they have a platform. They can speak for the voiceless and offer allyship to the helpless.
The issues of this tournament are not solved by mouths being covered up in protest; you miss the point if that’s what you are expecting. But they take those issues forward, keep them in the news cycle and maintain the pressure on those who choose to turn a blind eye and ear to them.
It also reiterates just how badly Fifa have managed this entire process. The OneLove armband, which promotes diversity and inclusion, had received criticism because it did not carry the rainbow colours most associated with LGBTQ support and campaigning. It only gained any power at all through Fifa’s attempts to censor it.
Roy Keane: The players can do more
Speaking on ITV, Roy Keane insisted that the players can do more to make their voices heard in response to Germany’s protest.
The football associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland all backed down from allowing their captains to wear the OneLove armband under the threat of “sporting sanctions” from Fifa.
“It’s a gesture and it’s a start but I still think they can do a lot more,” Keane said. “They say they’ve been silenced – by who? The most important people in football are the supporters and the players. Use their voice! Wear the armband. Action. Go and do it. This is a gesture and it’s a start. They can do more.”
By this stage of the competition, people would not be mentioning the armband; Fifa and Qatar’s Supreme Committee would have got their wish. Now it is the story of the group stage. The more you try to manufacture PR, the more you let it slip away.
We came to Qatar as journalists intent on telling the stories that mattered. That included football and the World Cup’s destiny, but also the geopolitical and social issues that made this tournament so controversial.
Fifa have lost control of their national teams: Germany are dissenting, Belgium are objecting, Denmark are threatening to revolt and are seemingly prepared to take others with them. If this is the punishment for the guardians of the game refusing to grasp their responsibilities as well as their privileges, it is fitting retribution.
Report: Japan remind us what football is supposed to be about
As the shriek of the final whistle sounded, referee Ivan Arcides Barton Cisnero raising both hands to the heavens, a nation did the same. This has been a remarkable week for Asian football and the shocks keep coming.
In the stands of the Khalifa Stadium, the irrepressible chanting of the Japanese supporters finally ceased; but only because they were screaming at several octaves higher. The substitutes streamed onto the pitch, as if they were marking victory in the final itself.
This is what the World Cup is supposed to be about. This is what we wish this one was about. And this is why we should be so grateful for the exceptional moments, when football lifts you off your feet and allows a temporary escape from everything other than the fates and fortunes of two teams and two nations.
Read Daniel’s full match report here.
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