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Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel lashes out at UEFA over 'rainbow' protest refusal

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jun 24, 2021, 08:33 PM IST
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Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Photograph:(Reuters)

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The mayor of Munich wanted the arena to be lit up in rainbow colours as a protest at Hungarian anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Aston Martin Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel on Thursday criticised football board UEFA for not allowing Allianz Arena, the home stadium of Bayern Munich, to lit up in rainbow colours for the Euro 2020 Group F match between Germany and Hungary.

Vettel, a German and four times world champion whose car carried the rainbow colours and Racing Pride logos at last weekend's French Grand Prix, said UEFA had taken the wrong stance.

"I think to excuse it that it is a political message is the wrong path," he told reporters at the Styrian Grand Prix at Austria's Red Bull Ring.

"I think it is definitely not harming anybody and I think it is a great message that they would have loved to send out and were not allowed.

"Some institutions need to rethink their approach on banning this type of messages."

The mayor of Munich wanted the arena to be lit up in rainbow colours as a protest at Hungarian anti-LGBTQ legislation.

However, UEFA declined, saying it was a politically and religiously neutral organisation.