UEFA may initiate proceedings against the MLSZ for homophobic manifestations

According to an official report received by the European Football Association (UEFA), Hungarian fans made homophobic statements at Tuesday’s Hungary-Portugal European Championship meeting. One Hungarian-Portuguese organisation discovered anti-LGBTQ banners in the auditorium.

An international monitoring organisation called Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) has made an official announcement to the UEFA Disciplinary Committee because during the Hungarian-Portuguese match, some fans held anti-LGBTQ banners high in the auditorium, writes The Athletic.

In the Puskás Arena, several molinos scolded the LGBTQ community in some form.

According to The Athletic, FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) sends an inspector to each match, who must write a report on whether any acts of discrimination have taken place in the meetings or the auditorium. The condemnatory report was received by the UEFA Disciplinary Committee as early as Tuesday evening.

A few hours before the match, Parliament passed an anti-paedophile bill banning the broadcasting of any homosexual or transgender content to children. On the day before the vote and Monday, there were plenty of protests in Kossuth Square against the bill. Read everything you need to know about it here!

A “counter-side” appeared in the Puskás Arena on Tuesday, sending various inscriptions to protesters against the law, which also contains anti-gay content.

Piara Powar, the director of FARE, also criticises the Hungarian Football Association in the article for announcing before the match against the Irish that the national team will not kneel to protest against racism. He put it this way:

The situation in Hungary is worrying, and it is our job to ensure that everyone respects fundamental human rights at events of this calibre. Last week, the MLSZ announced that the Hungarian national team would not kneel before the matches, and the Hungarian audience whistled during a friendly match against the Irish, who did so. And a week later, we saw homophobic captions in their next match. These are political manifestations that accurately reflect the position of the Hungarian government.

UEFA is currently considering whether to impose a penalty on the Hungarian Football Association.

According to Power, the position of the MLSZ and the Hungarian government is blurring together, and according to him, the respect for fundamental rights in the given country should be made a condition for the organisation of international football events.

The MLSZ also tweeted today about the fact that the police seemed out multiple people in connection with yesterday’s match, but this is probably not related to the banners, but to the fact that a spectator ran into the field during a game.

Read alsoEURO 2020 – the Irish are still mad about the kneeling issue, Budapest is misspelled

Source: index.hu; magyarnarancs.hu