Despite it being just day three of the competition, the Qatar World Cup has already seen its fair share of controversy.

On Monday, presenter and former footballer Alex Scott wore the forbidden One Love rainbow armband during coverage of the England v Iran match, after England captain Harry Kane opted out of doing so following a threat of sanctions. The following day, former Wales captain Laura McAllister alleged that she was told to remove her rainbow hat as she attended a match at the Ahmad Bin Ali stadium.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and carries a maximum sentence of up to seven years in prison. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have also raised serious concerns about the country’s labour system, stating that “human rights abuses persist on a significant scale today”, with migrant workers receiving little protection.

The latest show of defiance against the host nation saw the Germany team stage multiple protests during their Group E match against Japan. Players placed hands over their mouths and wore rainbow stripes on their warm-up tops and boots in protest against Fifa, who had banned seven teams, including Germany and England, from wearing the armband.

The fear of these sporting sanctions, which included captains receiving a yellow card at kickoff, had led several nations to backtrack from their promise to wear the OneLove armband in their World Cup matches. However, in a statement published shortly after the game started, the German Football Association stood firm, writing: “Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.

“We wanted to use our captain’s armband to take a stand for values that we hold in the Germany national team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard.”

While Germany’s captain didn’t don the armband on pitch, German interior minister Nancy Faeser wore the band, which promotes tolerance, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights, as she sat next to Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino. Six of Germany’s starting line-up, including Ilkay Gündogan and Manuel Neuer, also had rainbow colours on their boots.

“It wasn’t about making a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable,” the German statement continued. “That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important to us.”

Images: Getty