The Football Association ( FA) of England and Wales has confirmed their player will not wear the ‘One Love’ armband in this FIFA World Cup amid the threat of sporting sanctions and bookings by FIFA.
In a joint statement with Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the FA said, “ We were ready to pay fines but with a heavy heart we cannot put our players in the position where they could face sanctions
European teams were set to wear the ‘One Love’ armband to support the LGBT community’s rights in Qatar where homosexuality is an offence with a possible punishment of three years in jail.
FIFA has already warned captains of wearing any armband other than their official armband released for this FIFA World Cup with ‘Protect Children’, ‘Save The Planet’, and ‘Share The Meal’ slogans.
European teams were disappointed as FIFA didn’t release any slogan to not support discrimination. Monday’s fixtures include three European teams playing their first match including England, Netherlands and Wales.
Other European captains who had been said to wear the armband were the German skipper and star goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who pledged to wear the armband on their first match on Wednesday against Japan with the support of Denmark skipper Simon Kjaer.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane first wore the armband in September this year against Italy at the Nations League.
France’s have already backed out of the cause to show support to the host nation Qatar. The Netherlands team started the campaign by wearing the ‘one love’ armband in EURO 2020 after that other European team joined them in the campaign.
FA has announced English players would get 13 million euros if they were able to lift the trophy in Qatar with manager Gareth Southgate receiving a 3 million euro bonus. England Skipper and star striker Harry Kane can surpass the record of the legendary English player Wayne Rooney’s 53-goal, the three lions captain has scored 51 goals in 75 appearances for his national side.
