Germany Players' Protest Against FIFA Ahead of 1-2 Defeat by Japan

The German players covered their mouths during their pre-kick-off team photo to protest against FIFA's decision of banning teams from wearing the one love captain armband during matches in the World Cup in Qatar. After FIFA threatened to take action against any team wearing the armband with a yellow card punishment before kick-off to the captain. Immediately after the gesture, Germany released a statement to justify the team's action. "It wasn’t about making a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable. That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important to us. Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position," red part of the German statement. FIFA is yet to respond to the gesture and it will be interesting to see the action the World Football governing body takes against the Germans.