Switzerland Muslim captain Granit Xhaka has declared he will not copy Germanyโs mouth-covering protest against FIFA, saying they came to Qatar World Cup to play football and not to give lessons to anyone.
โI donโt think we need to do anything as the Swiss team. We need to respect the rules and concentrate on our football, thatโs all I intend to do,โ captain Xhaka told reporters ahead of his teamโs Group G opener against Cameroon on Thursday, Barronโs reported, quoting Agence France Presse.
โWeโre here to play football and not hand out lessons to anyone.โ
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German players covered their mouth as they lined up for their team photo before a shock 2-1 defeat to Japan to protest FIFAโs stance on rainbow-themed armbands.
Religious Belief
Similar to Xhaka, Everton winger Andros Townsend who agreed with the banning of the OneLove armband at the Qatar World Cup.
Speaking on TalksSport, Townsend said he felt uneasy with people โprotesting and upsetting a culture,โ New Castle World reported.
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โItโs a difficult conversation. I played with a lot of Muslim players and my understanding is gay marriage is outlawed based on religious beliefs,โ he said.
โIf I go back to Rainbow Laces, the Muslim players respect that but canโt promote it as they fear they are going against their religion and ultimately they are going to go to hell. Itโs difficult.โ
โWhen they are in our country, they respect our religious beliefs. Weโre coming to their country, yes we donโt agree with it, none of us agree with their beliefs, but itโs still their religious beliefs rightly or wrongly, they believe it for a reason.
โIโm a bit unease [sic] weโre coming in here, protesting and upsetting a culture when these guys are in their own country minding their business.โ
Religionsโ Stance
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Same-sex relationship and marriage are totally prohibited in Islam, Christianity, and all divine religions.
Islam teaches that believers should neither do the obscene acts nor in any way indulge in their propagation.
The Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin, but considers homosexual intercourse as sinful.
Former Pope Benedict XVI had called for defending humanity against the threat posed by homosexual behaviors, warning homosexual acts could lead to the self-destruction of the human race.
