Louis van Gaal has confirmed that the Netherlands are not going to follow Germany in making a statement concerning the LGBT community.
The Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal has confirmed that he and his players are in Qatar only to become World Champions and not follow in Germany’s footsteps in campaigning for the LGBT community.
Some European countries including England, were planning on wearing the ‘OneLove’ armband during their World Cup matches in Qatar but were warned off doing so as there would be consequences that haven’t been made public.
The German team covered their mouths with their hands before the kick-off against Japan to inform everyone that they were silenced from wearing the ‘OneLove’ armband to show their support for the LGBT community.
After their gesture, Germany would go on to lose the game 2-1 to Japan, having led 1-0 at half-time and many football fans would instead criticise the Germans, claiming they lost the game because they were focused on political issues.
When asked if the reason Germany lost the game to the Japanese side was that they made political issues their priority instead of football and Van Gaal said: “Well that’s the question. I do not want to take the same risk. I am here to become World Champion.”
When asked if he and his players are playing on following in Germany’s footsteps in covering their mouths, Van Gaal added: “No. We put an end to the political issues after we already invited the migrant workers.”