German Federation May Sanction Players for Gestures of Support for George Floyd

The German soccer federation will assess whether gestures supporting George Floyd from four Bundesliga players—including Weston McKennie—deserve sanctions.

The German soccer federation will assess whether four Bundesliga players' gestures during games to show support for George Floyd will be sanctioned.

Schalke's Weston McKennie, Borussia Mönchengladbach's Marcus Thuram and Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi demonstrated solidarity with widespread protests over Floyd's killing during last weekend's games. McKennie sported an armband Saturday that read "Justice for George," while Sancho and Hakimi wore undershirts with the same message. On Sunday, Thuram took a knee after scoring in Borussia Mönchengladbach's win over Union Berlin.

Floyd died last Monday in Minneapolis police custody after an officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for several minutes, even as Floyd said he couldn't breathe. Officer Derek Chauvin, who was fired from his job, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday. The three other officers present, also fired, have not been arrested.

The federation (DFB) released a statement Monday defending its decision to examine whether the four players broke the rules that prohibit them from showing "political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images."

"There has been worldwide uproar and widespread protests against racism and police brutality after the violent killing of American George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota," the DFB wrote in its detailed statement. "The topic also reached the Bundesliga on the weekend, with players like Weston McKennie (FC Schalke 04), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi (both Borussia Dortmund) demonstrating solidarity in different ways. While their actions have been met with much approval by the public, there has been some discussion about Saturday’s announcement after Weston McKennie wore an armband with the slogan 'Justice for George' that the DFB’s control body will address the matter and examine the situation in the coming days."

The DFB also clarified that Sancho received a yellow card for removing his jersey not because of the message on his undershirt but rather a rule that says players must be booked when they take off their jerseys or lift them over their heads to celebrate goals. Hakim showed the same message on his undershirt but did not lift his jersey over his head, and therefore was not booked.

During an interview with Forbes, McKennie said he didn't talk to his club before wearing the armband and realizes he perhaps should have. When asked by a referee to remove it during Saturday's game, he opted not to.

"I was like, 'I'm not taking it off.' There's a rule in the league that you can't make political statements. But I mean, if you really, really look at this as a political statement, then I don't know what to tell you," McKennie said.

"The league and everyone [in soccer] always preaches 'say no to racism.' So I didn't think that there would be a problem. If I have to take the consequences to express my opinion, to express my feelings, to stand up for what I believe in, then that's something that I have to do."

McKennie told Forbes that he plans to continue to honor Floyd in some way.