England: Three Lions among seven countries to confirm they will not wear OneLove armband in Qatar | Football News

England will not wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup in Qatar, with the u-turn announced just three hours before their opening match against Iran.

The FA and Harry Kane had been adamant that they would wear the armband as a message of anti-discrimination and support for the LGBTQ+ community.

But on Monday morning, FA CEO Mark Bullingham said England have been exploring whether there is “another way to show our values” after FIFA threatened to book any captain wearing the OneLove rainbow armband in World Cup matches.

Less than an hour late, a statement released by the Football Associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland confirmed they would not wear the armband.

“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,” the statement read.

“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 to bring forward ‘No Discrimination’ campaign

FIFA has subsequently confirmed its ‘No Discrimination’ campaign has been brought forward, seemingly in an attempt to limit criticism that will follow the decision not to wear the OneLove armband.

“Following discussions, FIFA can confirm its No Discrimination campaign has been brought forward from the planned quarter-finals stage in order that all 32 captains will have the opportunity to wear this armband during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,” the governing body said.

“This is in line with Article 13.8.1 of the FIFA Equipment Regulations, which state: “For FIFA Final Competitions, the captain of each team must wear the captain’s armband provided by FIFA.”

“The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 regulations, as approved by everyone in the game, exist to preserve the integrity of the field of play for all participants and are equally applicable to all competing teams.

“FIFA is an inclusive organisation that wants to put football to the benefit of society by supporting good and legitimate causes, but it has to be done within the framework of the competition regulations which are known to everyone.”

Carra: England will look weak if they bow to FIFA pressure

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher had said England would look “weak” if they agreed not to wear the OneLove armband following continued pressure from FIFA.

Speaking on Sky Sports News‘ World Cup Breakfast before the u-turn, Carragher said: “Harry Kane has to wear it.

“England have made a big noise about the fact that he is going to wear this, that this is their protest to the World Cup being in Qatar, human rights and everything that goes on in the country that people have criticised.

“This is England’s way of showing that they don’t agree with everything that’s going on in the country.

“They can’t pull out now. The fact that Harry Kane may get a yellow card only strengthens the campaign. For England to pull out because of a yellow card for Kane, I think would be weak, so I think it should make them more determined.”