A combination of Qatar and FIFA put a stop to the proposed ‘OneLove’ armband protest at the tournament. However, Germany made their feelings known by placing their hands over their mouths for their team photo ahead of their opening World Cup fixture against Japan. The gesture represents that the national teams have effectively been banned from speaking on the issues.
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It comes after multiple European football associations were threatened with sanctions by FIFA if they persisted with the planned protest. Despite many people calling for fans and teams to focus on the football, it seems that the human rights issues will be highlighted regardless. It is a small step, but it could be an important one.
It will be interesting to see if other nations follow suit and are also creative in finding different ways of criticising both Qatar and FIFA over the next month.