German nudist national team protests 2026 World Cup: 'Fuck FIFA'

Instead of numbers, they wrote letters on their backs that made up the message “Fuck FIFA”. They also displayed bold protest messages against FIFA and the upcoming World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico ahead of their match against well-equipped opponents.

“We wanted to show FIFA the middle finger”

The initiator, a photographer named Gerrit Starczewski (39 years old), explained the action as follows: “The National Nudist Team is an artistic project, a protest against the commercialization of football.” It is aimed at the US World Cup and the power structures surrounding the tournament.

Starczewski said that through the action organized on “Labor Day” they wanted “simply to show the middle finger to FIFA for awarding a peace prize to US President Donald Trump: “It's not about football anymore, it's just about money“.

The story of the nudist national team began eleven years ago, in 2015, when the aforementioned photographer assembled a team of naked footballers for the first time. Since then, the “nude show” has been held regularly, ideally twice a year.

2,700 spectators witnessed the protest of the nudist footballers

Previously, Gerrit Starczewski, who is a VfL Bochum fan, had already used group photos of naked people at music festivals to protest against unrealistic beauty standards and consumerism. “I kind of wanted to combine that with my passion for football,” he explained, describing the idea behind the naked footballers.

Group photo of members of the nudist team / Photo: Bild

The May 1st protest match also became a crowd pleaser. The 2,700 seats in the small stadium in Herne (North Rhine-Westphalia) had been sold out for weeks. “I've never had so many viewersStarczewski admitted.