Socceroo speaks out on World Cup protests

GERMANY made a powerful statement about being gagged ahead of its World Cup opener, while outspoken Socceroo Jackson Irvine expressed his sympathy for the seven European nations thrown into controversy.

But Jackson says, from his discussions, the LBGTQI+ community feels the One Love armband lacks “a real statement in what it’s trying to achieve”.

Through their first two weeks in Doha, Australia have dead-batted questions about their own statement video, released last month, that highlighted Qatar’s questionable human rights record – insisting their focus was football.

On Wednesday, in the wake of Australia’s 4-1 opening game defeat to France, Irvine ripped that bandaid off, as the controversy surrounding FIFA’s decision to ban players from wearing the rainbow armband clouded the Cup.

It’s a move that has sparked anger from certain World Cup nations, including Australia’s Group D rivals Denmark – which on Wednesday threatened to withdraw from FIFA.

As Irvine spoke, Germany took the field for their match against Japan – with captain Manuel Neuer wearing a FIFA-sanctioned “no discrimination” armband, but only after the Germans posed for their pre-game team shot covering their mouths as if having been muzzled.

“Human rights are nonnegotiable,” the German federation said in a statement.

“Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.” Irvine reiterated his pride at the Socceroos’ stance and revealed his disappointment at the confusion around the messaging from the game’s governing body.

“The One Love armband is an interesting discussion in itself, because the conversations I’ve had with people from the LGBTQI+ community have already described that messaging as vague and lacking a real statement in what it’s trying to achieve as well.” Australia became the first World Cup nation to make a public statement on Qatar’s human rights record, their attitude towards same-sex relationships and treatment of migrant workers.

“All I can do is speak from our point of view and obviously say how proud I am of our squad and the clear position we took coming into this tournament,” Irvine added.

“There was no possibility to have that change thrown on us at a late stage.”