Wijnaldum wears rainbow armband in Hungary

Posted Monday, June 28, 2021 by Marca.com

Netherlands captain Georginio Wijnaldum took to the field for his country's last 16 match against the Czech Republic with a rainbow armband that had the message "one love".

There has been some controversy over the past week in Euro 2020, after UEFA turned down Germany's request to light up the Allianz Arena in the rainbow colours for their match against Hungary. This follows the approval of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Hungary, one of the Euro 2020 host countries.

The Puskas Arena in Budapest is one of the stadiums hosting matches and is hosting the Netherlands vs Czech Republic game.

There were reports before the match claiming that rainbow flags weren't being allowed in one of the fan zones in Budapest. In response to that, UEFA released a statement.

"Contrary to some reports in Dutch media, UEFA would like to clarify that it has not banned any rainbow-coloured symbols from the fan zone in Budapest, which is under the responsibility of the local authorities," it said.

"UEFA would very much welcome any such symbol into the fan zone.

"UEFA today informed the Hungarian Football Federation that rainbow-coloured symbols are not political and in line with UEFA's #EqualGame campaign, which fights against all discrimination, including against the LGBTQI+ community, such flags will be allowed into the stadium."

Wijnaldum decided to wear a rainbow armband for the match, something he had already stated he would do earlier in the week.

"By wearing this armband, we as Oranje are showing that we stand for inclusiveness and unity," the captain said.

"We oppose every form of exclusion and discrimination and we hope to support everyone in the world who feels discriminated against."