Arsene Wenger has said that countries whose national teams stage protests at the World Cup suffer their performance in matches.
Germany’s players covered their mouths ahead of their defeat by Japan following FIFA threatened “unlimited” penalties for players wearing the armband. One Love Anti-discrimination in games.
“The difference,” Wenger said [التي قدمت أداءً جيدًا] She was mentally ready.”
“They had a mentality of focusing on competition and not on political demonstrations,” he added.
Wenger, the former Arsenal manager who is FIFA’s head of global football development, spoke at a news conference on Sunday.
The German Football Association (DFB) was the most persistent in pressing for players to wear OneLove armbands. Wenger said “extreme blackmail” had led Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Wales, England and Switzerland to abandon plans to wear them.
Protests were raised once morest host Qatar’s human rights record and its treatment of migrant workers. Protests have also taken place once morest Qatar’s strict anti-LGBT laws. Qatar, whose law prohibits homosexuality, demands respect for its traditions as a Muslim country.
And the England national team, which passed the group stage with two victories and a draw, continued to lean on one knee before each match, in an anti-racism gesture before its matches since the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Germany, the four-time winners of the tournament, was eliminated in the group stage, in the second consecutive edition of the World Cup.
And FIFA stopped Denmark, which finished last in Group D, from using training equipment bearing slogans to support human rights.
British Sports Minister Stuart Andrew wore the OneLove armband during England’s World Cup match with Wales.
This came following Qatar World Cup director Hassan Al Thawadi said the badges sent a “divisive message”.
Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the Football Association, said FIFA had threatened to impose “unlimited” penalties on players who wore the captain’s armband during matches.
