UEFA did not want a Munich arena in rainbow colors because it saw the action as politically motivated. Apparently this has nothing to do with current politics.
Thomas Hitzlsperger, Chairman of the Board of VfB Stuttgart and DFB Ambassador for Diversity, stated before the kick-off of the European Championship group game Germany against Hungary on ZDF that the DFB had already submitted an application to Uefa at the beginning of May to open the Munich Arena on a day without a game to shine in rainbow colors at the EM. This was forbidden by the Uefa.
Hitzlsperger’s piquant story sheds a different light on the Uefa’s justification for rejecting a request by the Munich city council before the European Championship game between Germany and Hungary.
On Tuesday, Uefa announced that the Munich arena must not shine in rainbow colors during the last preliminary round match between the German national team and Hungary. The Uefa was “due to its statutes a politically and religiously neutral organization”, the association said as a reason. After the decision, a wave of protests broke out over Uefa. All of Munich was dominated by the rainbow on Wednesday.
On Wednesday Uefa President Alexander Ceferin said: “You know very well that Uefa is not a homophobic organization. And of course I personally am not either. We have shown that often enough,” said the Slovenian world: “But we don’t want to be used in populist actions, that’s the only reason we made this decision. Due to the popularity of football, too often attempts are made to abuse sports associations for their own purposes.”
EM 2021: Hitzlsperger sees an absurdly curious effect
“Uefa refused this, simply referring, among other things, to the short-term nature of the request. And a few weeks later they say you could choose a different game day. And that no longer fits together.”
In the opinion of Hitzlsperger, however, the Uefa ban could, absurdly, even have something positive. “The discussion that has now arisen is so much bigger and goes on for so many days that Uefa has enormously underestimated what it has done with it.”
Nowadays fans have a greater demand than in the past that it is no longer just about the game, associations have to position themselves clearly. Hitzlsperger also expects a clearer and more emotional positioning on issues such as equality, human rights and diversity from DFB interim president Rainer Koch.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
