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Euro 2020: Bundesliga clubs light up in Pride colors

Wesley Dockery
June 23, 2021

UEFA had barred the city of Munich from illuminating the Allianz Arena in rainbow colors in solidarity with LGBTQ people ahead of Germany's final group stage game against Hungary.

https://p.dw.com/p/3vSUL
Berlin's Olympiastadion lit up in rainbow colors
Berlin's Olympiastadion is Germany's largest for international football matchesImage: Christophe Gateau/dpa/picture alliance

Multiple Bundesliga clubs lit up their stadiums in pride colors on Wednesday evening.

It comes after European football's governing body UEFA blocked Munich's Allianz Arena from doing the same for a Euro 2020 game between Germany and Hungary.

Which stadiums lit up in pride colors?

Some of Germany's most famous football stadiums lit up in rainbow colors.

Berlin's Olympiastadion, the home of Hertha Berlin, was lit up during the Germany-Hungary match (pictured at top).

RheinEnergieStadion lit up in rainbow colors
Cologne's RheinEnergieStadion, the home of the FC Köln team, is one of the stadiums to have lit up in rainbow colorsImage: Herbert Bucco/imago images

Eintracht Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park posted a video on Twitter showing the stadium lit up in solidarity with LGBTQ  people. 

Volkwagen Arena, the home of VfL Wolfsburg, did likewise. 

Other notable stadiums that were lit up include Nürnberg's Max-Morlock-Stadion and the WWK Arena in Augsburg.

WWK Arena in southern Germany
WWK Arena is home to the Augsburg FC teamImage: Lennart Preiss/dpa/picture alliance
Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nürnberg
The Max-Morlock-Stadion is located in the southern city of Nuremberg and hosted five games of the 2006 FIFA World CupImage: Oliver Gold/Sportfoto Zink/picture alliance

Why did UEFA not allow pride lighting for the Munich game?

UEFA said lighting the Allianz Arena in pride colors would be a "political" statement. 

Munich mayor Dieter Reiter wanted to light the stadium to protest a new anti-LGBTQ  law in Hungary. The law prohibits the portrayal of homosexuality and sex reassignment in school textbooks and television programs targeted to people under 18.

The law violates "the fundamental values of the European Union," the bloc's chief Ursula von der Leyen said. 

European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said Wednesday there was "no reasonable excuse" for the UEFA to reject Munich's plans to display rainbow colors during the game.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had canceled his trip to Munich on Wednesday to attend the game, due to criticism of the law.