Soccer-UEFA prohibits 'rainbow' protest at Germany vs Hungary game

"Munich LGBTQ organisations are preparing for the Germany-Hungary match on Wednesday with a huge action, they will hand out 11,000 rainbow flags in and around the stadium," Budapest Pride said on their Facebook page. 'THANK GOD' - HUNGARIAN MINISTER The German Football Association (DFB) had said on Monday that it would also prefer any protest or gesture to be held on a date other than Wednesday. Asked about the issue, Hungary coach Marco Rossi said the national team never discussed politics in the locker room.

UEFA has refused a request from Munich's mayor for the stadium to be lit in rainbow colours for Germany's Euro 2020 match against Hungary on Wednesday in protest against an anti-LGBTQ law.

Mayor Dieter Reiter wanted to highlight legislation in Hungary banning school materials deemed to promote homosexuality and gender change and restricting the media from showing such content in programmes accessible to minors. The Allianz Arena, home to Bayern Munich, is configured to allow the exterior and roofing to be lit up in colours.

In a statement on Tuesday, European football's governing body suggested alternative dates for the gesture during the European Championship. "UEFA, through its statutes, is a politically and religiously neutral organisation. Given the political context of this specific request – a message aiming at a decision taken by the Hungarian national parliament – UEFA must decline this request," it said.

"UEFA has nevertheless proposed to the city of Munich to illuminate the stadium with the rainbow colours on either 28 June – the Christopher Street Liberation Day - or between 3 and 9 July which is the Christopher Street Day week in Munich." Christopher Street Day events are held in memory of an uprising by homosexuals in New York in 1969.

Budapest Pride organisers said they expected alternative plans from their partner group in Munich. "Munich LGBTQ organisations are preparing for the Germany-Hungary match on Wednesday with a huge action, they will hand out 11,000 rainbow flags in and around the stadium," Budapest Pride said on their Facebook page.

'THANK GOD' - HUNGARIAN MINISTER The German Football Association (DFB) had said on Monday that it would also prefer any protest or gesture to be held on a date other than Wednesday.

Asked about the issue, Hungary coach Marco Rossi said the national team never discussed politics in the locker room. "We are human and we are all sensitive to social matters," he added. "But I believe that we have always shown, through our behaviour, that we all respect everyone and everything."

Germany's Europe Minister Michael Roth told reporters ahead of a meeting with European Union counterparts in Luxembourg on Tuesday that Hungary's law violates EU values. Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto welcomed the UEFA decision. "Thank God that in the circles of European football leadership common sense still prevails and they did not play along with the political provocation," he said.

Hungarian national team goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, who plays in Germany for RB Leipzig, had expressed opposition to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government's policies towards the LGBTQ community earlier this year. But speaking to the media in Munich before the match, he was circumspect. "UEFA made this decision, we have no say in it," Gulacsi said. "We focus on the match now, not this. We know what a chance we have to make our country happy."

UEFA said it was involved in a number of campaigns to promote diversity and inclusion in football. (Additional reporting by Marton Dunai Editing by Julien Pretot, Christian Radnedge and Andrew Cawthorne)

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