Photos: Germany players cover mouths at World Cup in FIFA protest
Germany's players covered their mouths for their team photo before their opening World Cup match in an apparent rebuke of FIFA’s clampdown on plans to wear armbands to protest discrimination in host nation Qatar.
Players from Germany pose for the team photo as they cover their mouth during the World Cup group E soccer match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Germany players put their hands on their mouths as they pose for a group photo prior to the World Cup group E soccer match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Germany's soccer team players cover their mouth during the World Cup group E soccer match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Germany's soccer team players cover their mouths as they pose for a group photo before the World Cup group E soccer match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Many of Germany's soccer team players have rainbow colours on their boots as they pose for a team group before the World Cup group E soccer match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
It seemed to be a response to FIFA's warning that players would be penalized if they wore colorful "One Love" armbands as a symbol for inclusion and diversity.
As Qatar welcomes more than a million fans for the monthlong World Cup, even its camels are working overtime.