Euro 2020: Munich applies to light up stadium in protest against controversial Hungarian law

It wouldn't be the first time the Allianz Arena in Munich has been lit with the colours of the rainbow. Photo / Getty

Hungary may play its final group game at the European Championship in a stadium lit up in rainbow colours in protest against controversial new laws in the country.

Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said on Sunday he was going to write to UEFA to ask for permission for Germany's stadium to be lit up with the colours as a sign against homophobia and intolerance when the team plays Hungary on Thursday.

"This is an important sign of tolerance and equality," Reiter told news agency dpa.

Munich's city council had already called for the stadium to be lit in rainbow colours for the final Euro 2020 group game to protest a law passed by Hungarian lawmakers on Wednesday that prohibits sharing with minors any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment. The law has been denounced as anti-LGBT discrimination by human rights groups.

"It is important for the state capital Munich to set a visible sign of solidarity with the LGBTI community in Hungary, which is suffering from the current stricter homophobic and transphobic legislation of the Hungarian government," the Munich council said in its application.

UEFA, as organisers of the event, will have the final say.

The Munich city council accused Hungary "of following the example of Russia's homophobic and transphobic legislation."

"This legislation represents a new mark in the invisibility and disenfranchisement of lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) and adds to the systematic restriction of the rule of law and fundamental freedoms that have been practiced for years in Hungary," the council said.

In a positive sign for Munich's application, UEFA called off an investigation into German captain Manuel Neuer's wearing of an armband in rainbow colours for his team's opening group games against France and Portugal. He also wore it in the 7-1 warm-up win over Latvia before the tournament.

German broadcaster NTV reported Sunday that UEFA was investigating Neuer's use of the armband and that the German football federation could face a fine because political symbols are not permitted.

However, the team announced on Monday that it had received a letter from UEFA saying "the armband has been assessed as a team symbol for diversity and thus for a 'good cause'".

UEFA have today shared with the DFB that they have stopped the review of the rainbow captain's armband worn by @Manuel_Neuer.

In a letter, the armband has been assessed as a team symbol for diversity and thus for a 'good cause.' #EURO2020 #GER pic.twitter.com/HFiAAQ6F5D

— germanfootball_dfb (@DFB_Team_EN) June 20, 2021

Meanwhile, the local council said Munich "is committed to diversity, tolerance and equality in sport and in society as a whole."

But not everyone agrees.

Uwe Junge, a politician with the far right AfD party, was chastised by party leader Alice Weidel for "going too far" with a since-deleted post on Twitter in which he used a homophobic slur to describe Neuer's rainbow armband.

The Munich stadium has been lit in rainbow colours on several occasions since the first time on the night of July 9, 2016, to celebrate Christopher Street Day.