It is OK everyone, Uefa likes rainbows. All the pretty colours. It said so in a statement. “It is a symbol that embodies our core values, promoting everything we believe in – a more just and egalitarian society, tolerant of everyone, regardless of their background, belief or gender,” the European governing body gushed on Wednesday.
It is just that when all those pretty rainbow colours are displayed to make a human rights statement that Uefa gets a little jittery. Like it did on Tuesday, when it turned down the mayor of Munich’s request to light up the Allianz Arena for Wednesday’s European Championship match between Germany and Hungary in rainbow colours.
Uefa said the display of the rainbow was political, as the stadium was due to be lit up – along with other displays in Franfurt, Berlin and Cologne – in solidarity with Hungarian (and other) people of the LGBT+ community after the far-right prime minister Viktor Orban passed a law banning LGBT+ content in schools or in TV programmes for people aged under 18. Yes, the law was passed by a politician. But the law itself was a human rights issue.
Cue outrage over Uefa’s acquiescence to discriminatory regimes and ignorance of equality and inclusion. A kind of ignoring the rainbow and focusing on the pot of gold at the end, if you will.
As Joe White, spokesperson for LGBT+ fans group 3LionsPride told i: “Uefa will tout themselves as supporters of equality and rainbow-wash their brand when it suits them, but rarely proactively engage or make improvements for LGBT+ people involved in the game.”
By the end of Tuesday, the decision to ban the rainbow was looking like an own-goal for Uefa. So it swung into action with a statement. “Some people have interpreted Uefa’s decision to turn down the request to illuminate the stadium in rainbow colours as ‘political’,” it read. (By the way, note the passive-aggressive inverted commas around the word “political”. Sassy, Uefa. Real sassy).
“On the contrary, the request itself was political, linking the Hungarian team’s presence in the stadium.” This justification of course would be fine if the reason for painting the arena in rainbow lights was to oppose Orban’s decision to make income tax a flat 16 per cent for all earners. But it is not. It is about opposing the silencing of an entire section of society.
But in Uefa-land, this doesn’t wash. Of course rainbows are nice, unless they are making a statement.
More from i on Euro 2020
- What the Premier League could learn from Euro 2020’s controversy-free referees
- The football nomad who became a hero for his role in saving Eriksen’s life
- How Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola stunt could change the face of football sponsorship
- In praise of Emma Hayes, the best pundit at Euro 2020 so far
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3d4iOui
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