Germany sporting director Rudi Völler has urged members of the World Cup squad to avoid making political statements during this summer’s tournament, speaking from the team’s pre-tournament training camp in northern Bavaria.
While stressing that no formal gag order was in place, Völler encouraged the players to keep sport and politics “somewhat separate” during the finals, adding that there would be no specialist media training ahead of the tournament , a contrast to preparations before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Völler made clear he did not want a repeat of events in Qatar, where players and officials launched campaigns and gave critical interviews on sensitive issues immediately before matches.
The remarks carry particular weight given what unfolded four years ago: the German squad posed for their team photo with hands over their mouths in protest after FIFA threatened sanctions against players wearing OneLove armbands supporting LGBTQ+ rights a gesture captain Joshua Kimmich later said did not present a good image and took away from the joy of the tournament.
Völler noted that a significant number of the current squad were also part of the Qatar team and were therefore fully aware of the consequences of mixing politics with football on the biggest stage.
The 1990 World Cup winner went further by questioning the broader effectiveness of athlete activism, pointing to the United States-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics as an example of political action in sport that he felt was misguided even at the time.
“We are here to play in a World Cup. That takes precedence; we are footballers, and our goal is to inspire the people,” Völler said, calling on the squad to look forward to the tournament with enthusiasm despite the controversies surrounding it.
Germany face Finland in Mainz on Sunday in their final pre-tournament friendly on home soil before heading to North America.
