Sunday's home game against FC Augsburg will witness a rather special first at the Allianz Arena. From now on, when the team line-up is read out, the players and coach Thomas Tuchel will present their names in sign language in videos on the stadium display board. The signs were developed by the deaf fan club "Red Deaf" together with the German record champions as part of the "Red against Racism" initiative. In the next step, the project will also be implemented with the FC Bayern Women and the FC Bayern Basketball players. The fan club members also created signs for "Mia san Mia" and "Red against Racism".
FC Bayern president Herbert Hainer: "It was important to us that the signs for our players come directly from the FC Bayern fans. This joint project is intended to broaden perspectives and provide encouragement. Inclusion is an important task in our society, and sport in particular can do a lot to bring people together."
FC Bayern captain Manuel Neuer: "We're very proud that FC Bayern fans have developed special signs for us players. No one should feel excluded here, a sports club should always be a home for everyone. I'm glad I now have my own sign and would love it if all fans remembered the signs to improve communication and with it the integration of people with hearing disabilities."
Chairwoman of the Red Deaf FC Bayern fan club Martina Bechtold: "It's been a pleasure for us to have developed signs for the players of FC Bayern. FC Bayern is a big family and we now feel even more a part of this community through this joint project. We've been thinking about the signs for many months, and it's been a special highlight implementing the project together with the players. We can now feel yet again: Mia san Mia!"
FC Bayern disabled fans' representative Kim Krämer: "This joint project between FC Bayern and fans with hearing disabilities is another wonderful example of how inclusion is lived and breathed at this club. It's a great signal that the signs for the players were developed by the fans themselves. This is how you promote togetherness and a sense of community. FC Bayern is a home for everyone."
The meanings of the individual signs
Goal
Manuel Neuer: new
Sven Ulreich: his hairstyle
Tom Ritzy Hülsmann: husk + man
Defence
Dayot Upamecano: defence
Minjae Kim: size
Matthijs de Ligt: jersey number 4
Benjamin Pavard: curls
Alphonso Davies: speed
Bouna Sarr: earring
Raphaël Guerreiro: chin shape
Tarek Buchmann: book + man
Noussair Mazraoui: goatee
Midfield
Joshua Kimmich: raised eyebrow
Leon Goretzka: muscle mass
Paul Wanner: his hairstyle + letter W
Konrad Laimer: glue
Ryan Gravenberch: broad smile
Jamal Musiala: his goal celebration
Attack
Serge Gnabry: his goal celebration
Harry Kane: his hairstyle
Leroy Sané: hair band
Kingsley Coman: outside lane/overtaking lane
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting: his goal celebration "Ça donne"
Thomas Müller: profession - miller
Gabriel Vidović: his hairstyle
Mathys Tel: pony tail
Arijon Ibrahimović: buzz cut
Coach
Thomas Tuchel: cap
Photos: Dominik Gigler.
More info on the project of the deaf fan club "Red Deaf":
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