Skip to Content

Defending gender confusion: Gareth Southgate, England's national soccer team coach. Facebook
Budapest

Hungarians mock woke European soccer players

Superfluous and politically correct statements by soccer players are not very popular in Hungary. The rainbow armband worn by the German team captain at the last European Championship was the subject of ridicule among Hungarian fans.

Published: June 8, 2022, 12:29 pm

    Read more

    The British, too, could not refrain from making a woke political statement on the soccer pitch – and thereby also incurred the displeasure of the Hungarian audience. Before the kick-off of the international match against Hungary in Budapest, the British national team felt it was necessary to kneel down demonstratively as a “sign against racism”. The gesture had arisen a few years ago in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Hungarian audience acknowledged the visiting team taking a knee with sustained boos.

    Among the British visitors – who were sent home after a resounding 2-1 defeat in Budapest – it caused anger and a great deal of incomprehension. “We do this to educate people around the world,” England coach Gareth Southgate said after the game. “I don’t understand why people choose to boo that gesture.”

    Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Conor Coady was also clear after the Nations League opener: “It’s extremely disappointing. It’s important that people understand why we are doing this,” he explained. The boos were “not something we want to hear”. Already at the World Cup qualifier in Hungary in September 2021, England professionals Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling had been victims of alleged racist abuse. Even Prime Minister Boris Johnson had stepped in to harshly criticised Hungary afterwards.

    On Tuesday, by the way, the indignant Brits were calmed down by the German national team in the Allianz Arena in red-green-ruled Munich – both teams celebrated in cosy unison with rainbow armbands and anti-racist genuflections.

    The German team added an extra tidbit by running onto the pitch in the jerseys of the German women’s national soccer team – to promote the upcoming Women’s European Championship in England, they said. The Belgians will be joining them in this gesture.

    Not only on the soccer field

    Hungary has been angering other parties in Europe as well. Over the last few weeks, Budapest had already drawn some angry criticism from Kiev because it had refused to unconditionally support the EU’s oil embargo policy. Hungary was recently able to push through a special arrangement for further oil deliveries from Russia.

    To add insult to injury, the Hungarian parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kever this week publicly wondered about the blatant way in which Ukraine, and especially its president Zelensky, approached its Western allies for aid. Zelensky has “psychological problems”, the Hungarian politician speculated.

    “Statements by the president of Ukraine are sometimes strange. Usually, those who need help ask for it politely persistently, but ask, not demand or threaten. One usually threatens enemies, not those they want to have as friends. There is a personal mental problem here,” Kever told Hungarian newspaper 444.hu. He added: “I don’t remember the leader of a country in need of help daring to speak out against anyone, as President Zelensky spoke not only against Hungary but also against the German chancellor.”

    Ukrainian presidential adviser Podoljak immediately retaliated angrily, writing on Facebook, “The only ‘problem country’ in the European family, Mr. Laszlo Kever, is Hungary, which blocks any response to Russian atrocities in Ukraine.” Budapest should stop “boasting about its ‘cannibalistic’ attitude. Such statements will not earn you the best place in the history books,” he declared. Hungary, he said, was knowingly exchanging the souls of dead Ukrainian children for “oil gingerbread”.

    Relations between Kiev and Budapest have been strained for some time. Because of the continuing discrimination against the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, the Hungarian government has already made several representations to Brussels. Most recently, the Ukrainian government blatantly threatened to blow up the – Russian – oil pipeline that currently still supplies Hungary.

    Consider donating to support our work

    Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.

    Keep ​your language polite​. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in​,​ for example​, ​Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.

    If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violation​s​ of​ any​ law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.

    If your comments are subject to preview ​by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.

    We reserve the right to del​ete​ comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

    Europe

    Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy

    BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.

    Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions

    BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.

    Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’

    RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.

    UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs

    LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.

    Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers

    LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.

    Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever

    RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.

    Dismantling diplomacy with ‘feminist foreign policy’

    BudapestGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wants to counter German security issues abroad with feminist politics. Gender training, LGBTQ events and quotas are now part of their new guidelines, which are intended to bring about "cultural change". The German ambassador to Hungary, Julia Gross, provided an embarrassing example.

    Germans demand investigation of Nord Stream sabotage

    BerlinAfter the sensational revelations by US investigative reporter Seymour Hersh about the perpetrators of the Nord Stream attacks on September 26, 2022, the German government has remained silent. It does not want to comment on Hersh's research results, according to which the pipelines were blown up by Americans and Norwegians.

    Macron mulling withdrawal of Putin’s Legion of Honour award

    ParisAt the end of Jacques Chirac's term in 2007, France and Russia still maintained cordial relations. During his speech at a tripartite summit, the French president had even mentioned bilateral relations that were "excellent in all respects, particularly in the fields of energy, infrastructure and aeronautics".

    UN dossier sounds the alarm : ISIS cells eye Balkan route

    New YorkThe risk that terrorists could reach the Mediterranean coasts is growing. A UN dossier has warned that jihadists have been crossing the Balkans in attempts to reach the EU.

    Go to archive