A kick to discrimination and so on Juventus, Barcelona and Chelsea post their logos in the colors of the Rainbow. A strong and clear signal, not only against UEFA, but to the whole football system
There are moments in which one cannot fail to act, one cannot remain silent. There are times when you can and should raise your voice even if it is not in our strings, it does not belong to our way of being. There are times when it is necessary to fight, peacefully and with full respect for the opinions of others, to affirm some sacrosanct rights. In these cases there can be no left or right, there must be only one Center, called Men and its freedoms.
Euro 2020 is turning out to be something that goes far beyond mere, important and prestigious sporting competition. Euro 2020 is the image of a Europe that restarts, that gets back into motion, that tries to get up after the pandemic had brought it to its knees. Now Euro 2020 also becomes something else, something more. When the great goalkeeper of the German national team, Manuel Neuer, wearing the captain's armband with the colors of the rainbow, a symbol of LGBT rights, on his arm, one immediately realizes that something is happening, something new and symbolically revolutionary.
Germany's proposal
Germany will play their last group stage match against Hungary on Wednesday 23 June. The Allianz Munich Arena will be the stadium that will host the event, a stadium that the Germans wanted to light up with the colors of the rainbow as a response to the law passed by the Hungarian Parliament, which limits the right to information of young people under 18 on homosexuality, because it equates to pornography and pedophilia.
A response to the Hungarian premier's obscurantist policy Viktor Orban, always hostile, with its policies, towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people. However, the EUFA rejected this proposal by the Germans and in a precise note: “Racism, homophobia, sexism and all forms of discrimination are a blemish in our society and represent one of the biggest problems that sport faces today. However, Uefa by its statutes is a politically and religiously neutral organization and given the political context of this specific request, we are forced to decline ",
A kick to discrimination. A politically correct "fake"
A formal way of distancing that many did not like. It was not liked by three of the biggest European clubs such as Chelsea, the new European champion, Barcelona and Juventus, who posted their institutional logos in the colors of the rainbow. An image can be worth a thousand words, because it strikes, in a single instant, eyes, heart and soul. For those who have them. For some, the immediate and strong response of Barcelona and Juventus to UEFA's decision not to illuminate the Allianz Arena in Munich with the colors of LGBT rights, should also and above all be connected to the recent controversies related to the Super League.
UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, does not give up on the desire to see the inflicted on the three irreducible clubs, Real Madrid and precisely Barcelona and Juventus, exemplary sanctions for their repeated desire not to abandon the splitting project of the Super League. More than once and in a formal way, the three clubs have filed a formal protest against the behavior, in their opinion, dictatorial and intimidating, of the European football government. But the battle between the three clubs and UEFA is only at its beginning, it will be long, with the serious risk that judges and courts will be involved.
The hope that it will be a strong signal to the world of football
Perhaps there will also be a bit of revenge against the European football leaders, but we like to think that Barcelona, Juventus and Chelsea wanted to send a strong signal to the entire world of football but not only. Sport, as well as music, cinema, art in its entirety have no boundaries. They must not and cannot be delimited by narrow and limiting perimeters. They must not and cannot have fences to overcome. They must be free to transmit FREEDOM, especially when it comes to rights.
Here we go further, much further. There are no billions of euros at stake, there are no political struggles to secure important seats in the places that matter. Euro 2020 is bringing a message of inclusion, respect and tolerance into the partially packed stadiums, into our homes and into our minds. A message that speaks of rights, rights to live one's life freely, without constraints or barriers. A message that speaks of love, in the broadest sense of the term. Freedom to love anyone, anywhere, without being forced to justify any of our choices.
A kick to discrimination. The time has come
There are moments in which one cannot fail to act, one cannot remain silent. There are times when we can and should raise our voices even if, apparently, we are surrounded by deaf people who do not intend to listen. There are times when it is necessary to make people understand, peacefully and with full respect for the opinions of others, that affirming some sacrosanct rights is good for everyone, not just for those who ask that those rights be respected by all. where it is needed do, this is the moment. To really grow, culturally, everyone.
Article by Stefano Vori
