German FA taking FIFA to Court of Arbitration for Sport over OneLove armband ban at World Cup
The German Football Association are taking FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over their ban on OneLove armbands.
Seven European nations were forced to backtrack with plans to wear the rainbow armband, aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion, after a FIFA threat of sporting sanctions.
Germany's Manuel Neuer was among captains, including Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and Virgil van Dijk who have had to ditch the ban for the opening games in Qatar, where same-sex relationships are illegal.
However, Germany are fighting the decision and hope CAS can will overule the FIFA ban which could mean that Neuer wear the armband for their second World Cup group game against Spain.
DFB spokesman Stefan Simon confirmed to Bild that it had lodged the complaint to CAS.
“FIFA has forbidden us from using a symbol of diversity and human rights," he said.
"It said the ban would be linked to massive penalties (in the nature of) sporting sanctions without concretising exactly what it meant. The DFB is keen to clarify whether FIFA procedure is in fact legitimate.
"We lost the armband and it is very painful but we are the same people as before with the same values. We are not impostors who claim they have values and then betray them.
"We were in an extreme situation, in an extreme blackmail and we thought we had to take that decision without wanting to do so."
There has been a tightening on restrictions in Qatar in the days leading up to the tournament with beer sales being restricted, while also a crackdown on the rainbow symbols associated with support for the LGBTQ+ community, despite insistence 'all are welcome' in the country.
England captain Harry Kane admitted he was disappointed at not being allowed to wear the OneLove armband and said the decision was taken out of his hands.
"We're disappointed," he said.
"We wanted to wear it, that decision was taken out of my hands. I turned up to the stadium with the armband that I wore and I was told I had to wear that.
"Look, it's out of our control as players. I'm sure the FA and FIFA will continue those discussions but most importantly today we focused on the game and got a great result.
"You've seen over the last five years we've made a stand as a squad and we'll continue to do that as much as we can. We took the knee today as well but sometimes these decisions aren't up to us and that's the bottom line."