Despite June being designated as ‘Pride month’, reports emerged on Sunday that UEFA could purportedly prevent Neuer from continuing to wear the rainbow armband throughout Euro 2020 this summer – despite the organization declaring an opposition to homophobia as a key part of their message.
According to reports in Germany, the national football association, the DFB, could have been levied with a fine by UEFA for disregarding guidelines on what it determines as political gestures.
However, those concerns appear to have been allayed after the DFB tweeted that UEFA had “stopped” a review into the armband.
“UEFA have today shared with the DFB that they have stopped the review of the rainbow captain’s armband worn by @Manuel_Neuer,” read a tweet.
“In a letter, the armband has been assessed as a team symbol for diversity and thus for a ‘good cause.'”
Although UEFA is yet to comment officially, the tweet from the DFB would suggest that an investigation of some sort had been underway.
A firestorm surrounding Neuer’s adoption of the ‘Pride’ armband was ignited online after a tweet by a lawmaker associated with the far-right Alternative for Germany party which was fiercely critical of the German national team being used as a method of endorsement for LGBT+ issues.