Munich’s stadium is illuminated in rainbow colors on the occasion of Christopher Street Day in Munich, Germany, Saturday, July 9, 2016. UEFA has declined the Munich city council’s application to have its stadium illuminated in rainbow colors for Germany’s final Euro 2020 group game against Hungary on Wednesday June 23, 2021.
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Commission vice president Margaritis Schinas can’t find “any reasonable excuse” for UEFA to reject host city Munich’s plans to display rainbow colors during a match between Germany and Hungary at the European Championship, he said Wednesday.
UEFA said it understood the city’s intention to send a message to promote diversity and inclusion but stressed that it was “a politically and religiously neutral organization” after it denied the application to have the stadium illuminated in support of LGBT rights.
“Yes, I find it very difficult to understand what UEFA is trying to do by going against this initiative of the Munich city council,” Schinas said during a news conference ahead of Wednesday’s match. “Frankly, I do not find any reasonable excuse for that.”
Schinas said he was even more surprised by the decision since the governing body of European soccer has previously supported campaigns for inclusion and against racism.
“They supported all the good causes. And all of a sudden, they make an issue out of this,” he said.
UEFA, which has the final say as tournament organizer, said it had to decline the request from Munich because of its political context — “a message aiming at a decision taken by the Hungarian national parliament.”
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