Harry Kane, the captain of England, and the captains of Wales, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland have all decided not to wear the “OneLove” armband at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. As previously reported by Blinkscoop, FIFA had threatened to issue an immediate yellow card to the England captain and anyone else wearing the OneLove armband on the field.
FIFA also threatened to issue a second yellow card for wearing the armband during a subsequent match, which would result in the player’s automatic exclusion from the third game. The football associations of the European nations reaffirmed their decision to change their stance in response to FIFA’s warning in a united statement on Monday.
“FIFA has made very clear that it would apply sporting punishment if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” the statement, according to the Guardian UK, states. We have instructed the captains not to try to wear the armband in FIFA World Cup games because as national federations, we can’t place our players in a position where they can be subject to sports punishments, such as bookings.
“We had a strong commitment to wearing the armband, and we were willing to pay the penalty that would often be imposed for violating the rules on the equipment. We cannot, however, put our players in a position where they risk receiving a warning or possibly being asked to leave the field of play.
We wrote to FIFA in September to let them know that we wanted to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusiveness in football but received no answer. As a result, we are quite dissatisfied with the decision, which we believe is unprecedented. Despite their disappointment, our players and coaches will continue to encourage inclusivity in other ways.
The OneLove armband is intended to express support for marginalized groups that are persecuted in the host country, Qatar. Iran will be the opponent in England’s World Cup opener on Monday afternoon (today).
