Qatari TV Mocks Germany's OneLove World Cup Armbands
(CNN) -- Soccer pundits on Qatar's Alkass Sports channel mocked the German soccer team following its World Cup exit -- by mimicking the players' protest over human rights.A video on the channel's Twitter page posted on Thursday shows former Kuwaiti soccer player Jamal Mubarak covering his mouth with his left hand and waving goodbye with the right, then calling on former Egyptian goalkeeper and fellow analyst Essam El-Hadary to join him.Soon after, El-Hadary and other pundits then cover their mouths and wave goodbye -- apparently in celebration of Germany's exit.The gesture mimics what the German players did to protest against FIFA's decision to ban the "OneLove" armband that many European captains had been hoping to wear in Qatar in support of LGBTQ rights.Ahead of Germany's first match on November 23, the team's starting lineup posed with their right hands in front of their mouths, a gesture to oppose what they saw as a clampdown on free speech.Germany lost that game to Japan in a shocking upset.
A subsequent victory against Costa Rica on Thursday was not enough for Germany to make it out of the group stage and through to the last 16."Thank God, today all the Arab and Muslim nations (are) praying that Japan qualifies with any team, but the most important thing is Germany's exit," Mubarak said on Alkass Sports channel.The segment aired on the channel's al-Majlis show hosted by Qatari presenter Khalid Jassem and featuring Arab soccer analysts, including Mubarak, El-Hadary and Iraqi former player Younis Mahmoud.Following Germany's 1:1 draw against Spain last Sunday, Jassem said in an al-Majlis episode that he was "shocked" at Germany's protest."You [Germany] are supposed to respect our customs, traditions, culture and.
