This article has been published online by the Magyar Nemzet on June 14, 2021.
For 80 years Hungarians have and will stand at attention during the anthem
“Eighty-three years ago, the English national football team, yielding to the spirit of the age, showed the Nazi salute in Berlin before a national team match, and a few days ago the Irish national football team, yielding to the spirit of the age again, knelt in solidarity before a national team match.
– reads the Facebook post published by Tamás Deutsch, Fidesz Member of the European Parliament. The conservative politician reminded: “For 80 years the Hungarians have and will stand at attention during the anthem.”
“No salutes, no kneeling. Respect. That’s all.”
– concluded Deutsch briefly.
A photo has recently started to spread on the Internet: in May 1938, before the Germany-England football match in Berlin, the players of both teams paid homage with the Nazi salute. Meanwhile, another shot from April 1940 at the Germany-Hungary match shows that only the German team used the gesture, while the photo published in the contemporary Képes Sport magazine showed that the entire Hungarian national team (and the Belgian referee) refused to.
