In the final match of the 26th round of the Hungarian Football Championship, Ferencváros took the lead in Felcsút in the 18th minute. The scorer, the South Sudan-born Norwegian winger Tokmac Nguen, pulled up his jersey after his goal and commemorated George Floyd, who died due to a violent street arrest by Minneapolis police officers last week, with the inscription ‘Justice for George Floyd.’ However, according to a statement issued by the Hungarian Football Association on Monday, its Disciplinary Committee reprimanded the player for “prohibited inscription on his clothing.”
George Floyd died earlier this week in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. The black man repeatedly signaled that he couldn’t breathe, but the policeman did not care, not even about passers-by who recorded the event on video. After Floyd’s death, protests and riots started to take place and have spread to more and more cities across America, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Memphis, Louisville, and St. Louis. In many places around the world, and on football pitches, protests and commemorations are held in support of the murdered man, other victims of police brutality, and systemic racism. Since then, the police officer was fired and has been charged with third-degree murder.
Ferencváros footballer Tokmac Nguen Chol also stood up for the case, pulling up his jersey after scoring in the 18th minute of the match in the 26th round of the Hungarian Football Championship, showing the caption on his shirt: “Justice for George Floyd.”
Since then, the Hungarian Football Association responded to the inscription, and the Disciplinary Committee has reprimanded Tokmac in writing. According to the organization’s statement, the footballer “received a reprimand in writing for the prohibited inscription worn on his clothing (…) the Disciplinary Committee decided on the minimum penalty that could be imposed under the rules.” They added that in future there will be an actual penalty for footballers wearing any unauthorized inscription on their jerseys.
featured photo: screenshot from live broadcast, M4