Kimmich, Germany captain regrets political stance at Qatar World Cup
Joshua Kimmich, the captain of the German men’s national football team, has said that both he and his teammates should not have taken a “very political stance” during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“I think we as a team and we as Germany did not present a very good image overall,” the footballer said at a national team press conference.
Kimmich took on the role as captain last September. He was asked about how the squad would respond to current and upcoming political issues surrounding football. This comes following the election in the USA, one of the cohosts for the next men’s World Cup in 2026. Saudi Arabia, a country known for human rights abuses, particularly against women and LGBTQ+ people, is likely to become the host in 2034.
“In general, we players should stand for certain values, especially me as the captain of the national team. But on the other hand, most of the time it is not our job to express ourselves politically. We have experts in our country for that,” Kimmich said.
The player referred to the World Cup in Qatar where German players had planned to wear rainbow armbands in protest of the country’s homophobic laws. FIFA banned players from doing so, leading to the squad to cover their mouths during a now famous team photo before their opening match against Japan.
“We tried to express ourselves in a very political way, and that took a little bit of the joy out of the tournament,” Kimmich recalled, adding that the German team hadn’t been playing well at the time, and that the political episode made the memory more sour than it otherwise would have been.
“Apart from our sporting achievements, it was an outstanding World Cup in terms of organization and circumstances. Excellent training facilities, wonderful stadiums,” he said.
Men’s football leagues in Europe are hoping to make the LGBTQ+ community feel more welcome at games and football as a whole. Very few male players have come out as gay, largely due to the abuse they expect.
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