Why are World Cup captains not wearing rainbow armbands? Immediate and harsh reaction
The gesture was meant to be a strong message to the local Qatari regime and to the wider world, but FIFA punishment has stopped it.
Back in September, the English Football Association communicated to FIFA that the team’s captain would wear a ‘OneLove’ rainbow armband for games in the 2022 World Cup. It’s purpose, to send a message of support to the LGBT+ community and a reminder to controversial hosts Qatar that inclusivity and human rights are fundamental in a modern society.
As Monday 21 November arrived, Day 2 of the tournament, England captain Harry Kane was readying himself for the nation’s first game against Iran, another country that could be aided from his stance. Instead, a joint statement from the Football Associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands make it clear that the governing body’s sanctions has changed their minds. So much for Gianni Infantino’s “I feel gay” speech a few days ago. What do they say about words vs actions?
Rainbow armband joint statement in full
“Fifa has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play. As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in Fifa World Cup games.
“We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband. However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.
“We are very frustrated by the Fifa decision which we believe is unprecedented – we wrote to Fifa in September informing them of our wish to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response. Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways.”
“Fifa has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play. As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in Fifa World Cup games.
“We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband. However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.
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“We are very frustrated by the Fifa decision which we believe is unprecedented – we wrote to Fifa in September informing them of our wish to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response. Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways.”
Reactions to rainbow armband decision
As you can possibly imagine, the reaction condemning this decision was swift. Here are a selection of those public comments, including some novel ideas to counter the sanctions.
̶W̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶s̶ ̶u̶s̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶ we stand in solidarity with the LGBT community.
— Simon Hughes (@Simon_Hughes__) November 21, 2022
What, a yellow card?
Yes, master - whatever you say master!
And if Southgate wears it?
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) November 21, 2022
I'm not gay, but if I was, I'd be absolutely furious about this FA armband U-turn. Makes an absolute mockery of the whole 'we're going to speak out about human rights in Qatar rather than boycott it' stance.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 21, 2022
If football is for everyone, why has Infantino threatened to book the captain of nations who were to wear the 'one love' armbands? It's not political its about basic human rights no? In that case why are rainbow laces allowed? And rainbow armbands in football? Well done Fifa 🤦🏻♂️
— Rhys Jones (@RhysJonesRuns) November 21, 2022
Or each spray a difference colour and when they’re lined up they’ll be a rainbow. They can’t fine them for hair colour.
— Kevin Lehane (@KevinLehane) November 21, 2022
Bang on from @SkyKaveh - ‘Are FIFA and the Qataris so offended by the rainbow colours that they’re going to these lengths?’
— Dominic Booth (@DomBooth19) November 21, 2022
A real real shame that England and the other nations won’t be wearing the One Love armband. 🌈
It's not even a rainbow FFS. They have no bottle. Don't want to hear any rubbish about football tackling discrimination after this shambles.
— Jack Fifield (@jackfifield) November 21, 2022
The strongest protest against the World Cup would be surely to say the England team won't be taking part . They are now looking like fools after a Embarrassing u turn about wearing the rainbow arm bands
— Jumpin Jack Frost (@djjjfrost) November 21, 2022
Really is a pathetic stance from the English FA. If Harry Kane was given a yellow card at kick off today for having a rainbow armband it would just make FIFA/Qatar look ridiculous and be arguably more effective than the very small gesture it was in the first place. https://t.co/ek25Kql32L
— Steve Robson (@SteveRobson04) November 21, 2022
So not getting a yellow card is more important than a gesture in support of LGBTQ fans…
— Tom Burrows (@TRWBURROWS) November 21, 2022
That’s the message this sends out. @FA #FIFAWorldCup
Lot of people (me included) correctly slamming the FA. But as we saw with taking a knee, the players and manager are key drivers in this. If Kane, Southgate and the rest of the squad said "no, we're wearing the armband" the FA would back them. So don't give them a pass on this.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) November 21, 2022