After Uefa’s rainbow ban, numerous cities show solidarity with Munich. DFB President Koch, on the other hand, expresses understanding for the hard line – and thereby duping his own national team.
All of Munich was in bright colors on Wednesday. At the main train station, fans who wanted to watch the European Championship match between Germany and Hungary were greeted with rainbow banners. In front of the Munich City Hall, flags in the colors of the LGBTQI movement waved, and trams and trams were decorated accordingly. The city managed to send a strong signal: a clear commitment to diversity and tolerance, a resolute condemnation of sexual discrimination and hetero-normativity.
However: Munich was not allowed to bathe the big stage, namely the Allianz Arena, in those same rainbow colors. Uefa, which has domiciliary rights in the Allianz Arena for the European Championship games, had forbidden this on the grounds that the tournament should not be used as a platform for political and religious messages. The Munich city council, whose idea was the symbolic lighting of the arena, had apparently made a tactical mistake and submitted an exemption request to Uefa on the grounds that they wanted to stand up for the rights of lesbians and gays just before the Hungary game. The Hungarian parliament recently passed a law restricting young people’s right to information about homosexuality and transsexuality.
Munich city council with tactical error
From the perspective of UEFA, the addressee of the rainbow campaign was clear – it was about reprimanding Prime Minister Orbán’s policy. That made a ban easy for Uefa. If the city council had only referred to the universal values for which the rainbow colors stand, Uefa would probably have had arguments.
But even so, without a colorful Munich stadium, the campaign was a success. It drew wide circles in Germany. The operators of the stadiums in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt, among others, showed solidarity with the people of Munich and let their arenas shine in rainbow colors.
German sport, on the other hand, left a mixed picture. National coach Joachim Löw and the national team recognized the values of the LGBTQI movement. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer again wore a multicolored captain’s armband against Hungary. Löw said in the run-up to the game that he thought sending out strong symbols was the right thing to do – but it was crucial that the propagated values were actually lived. This is “absolutely the case” in the national team.
Koch statement causes astonishment
Rainer Koch, however, the acting president of the German Football Association, expressed understanding for the negative decision of the Uefa. The planned rainbow lighting was “no longer a mere statement in the common fight against any form of discrimination, but a political action,” he wrote on Facebook.
Koch is not, however, unselfconscious; he sits as an envoy of the DFB in Uefa committees and receives generous fees for it. His disturbing comment served only to protect personal interests; this maneuver was easy to see through.
It must be bitter for the German national team to be duped by their own association leaders in the fight for openness and tolerance. But the team won’t let that slow them down: Manuel Neuer will also wear a rainbow armband in the round of 16 against England next Tuesday.
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.
