“FIFA and Co. without a conscience!”
Banner ensures police action at DFB game
6/15/2022, 12:34 am
As part of the international football match between Germany and Italy, there is a protest action with the thrust of the World Cup host Qatar and the world association FIFA. After leaving the stadium, the protesters are picked up and treated by the police.
After the presentation of a FIFA-critical poster at the Nations League game between Germany and Italy (5: 2), there was a police operation on Tuesday evening. Around 15 people who, shortly after the kick-off of the football classic in Mönchengladbach, carried the banner with the inscription “15,000 dead for big scenes – FIFA and Co. without conscience!” had shown, are said to have hastily left the block and the stadium immediately afterwards. “There was a suspicion that the house rules had been violated,” said a spokesman for the Mönchengladbach police.
Accordingly, after the protest against the controversial World Cup at the end of the year in Qatar, there was communication between the German Football Association and the police. Police officers came across the group of people a little later and arrested them to record their personal details. “This was expressly not done for criminal prosecution. Showing the poster is covered by freedom of expression,” said the police spokesman. Rather, it was about “the protection of the rights of third parties”.
However, after further consultation, the DFB decided not to take legal action. It is unclear whether the people entered the stadium illegally. The fact that they were picked up and arrested by the police had caused a lot of criticism and incomprehension on social media.
The awarding of the World Cup to the desert state has been criticized for many years – not only because of the thousands of dead, but also because of the precarious human rights situation on site. DFB director Oliver Bierhoff recently criticized FIFA surprisingly clearly: “What are the award criteria for a World Cup does FIFA actually apply? Because awarding a tournament is the sharpest sword to push for the necessary changes,” said the 54-year-old the Funke media group and added: “They have to happen before the award and not only afterwards, otherwise you no longer have any leverage to enforce them.” He is convinced “that the award criteria must be closely linked to human rights issues”.