England, Germany and five other European teams at the FIFA World Cup on Monday abandoned plans to wear rainbow-themed armbands in support of LGBTQ rights because of the threat of disciplinary action.
Belgium, one of the teams, also said that soccer’s governing body would not allow them to use their rainbow-tinged second kit with the word “Love” on the collar.
The armbands had widely been viewed as a symbolic protest against laws in World Cup host Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
Photo: Reuters
“FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” the seven teams said in a joint statement.
German Football Association president Bernd Neuendorf called FIFA’s stance “an unprecedented event in World Cup history” and “a show of force” from the world governing body.
Under its rules, players wearing kit that is not authorized by FIFA could be shown a yellow card. If that player is then shown a second yellow card, they would be sent off.
The “OneLove” armband due to be worn by the likes of England captain Harry Kane and Germany’s Manuel Neuer was designed as part of a campaign to promote inclusivity.
No player wore the “OneLove” armbands on Monday, althoughKane wore the FIFA-approved “No Discrimination” armband that was offered as a compromise.
“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,” the federations of England, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Wales said.
When the “OneLove” initiative was announced in September, Kane said he was “honored” to join fellow World Cup captains in donning the armband.
Speaking after England’s 6-2 thumping of Iran on Monday, coach Gareth Southgate said the issue had become a distraction.
“I actually understand FIFA’s point. If you don’t draw a line it sets a precedent,” he said, before adding: “People know what we stand for.”
Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal, whose side beat Senegal 2-0, said: “Actually I no longer want to answer political questions.
“This is the time to talk only about football, but one thing is clear: We are not going to wear the armband if we are going to get a yellow card,” he said.
Meanwhile, a US journalist said he was briefly detained when he tried to enter a World Cup stadium in Qatar while wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ community.
Grant Wahl, a former Sports Illustrated journalist who now has his own Web site, said World Cup security denied him entry to the US’ opener against Wales at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan and asked him to take his shirt off.
He said his phone was taken away when he wrote about the incident on Twitter.
“I’m OK, but that was an unnecessary ordeal,” Wahl wrote on Twitter.
He said a security commander later apologized and allowed him into the venue, and he received an apology from a FIFA representative.
Additional reporting by Reuters and AP
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS