Tamara Rapajic
Seven European nations, including England and Wales, have backed out of wearing the OneLove Armband, which promotes diversity and inclusion, at the World Cup. This comes after FIFA announces sanctions against individual players.
The OneLove Campaign
The OneLove Campaign was created by the Netherlands and supported by Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Wales. The initiative aims to signal inclusion and “send a message against discrimination of any kind.” It involves the team captains wearing a rainbow armband with the colours red/black/green/pink/yellow/blue to reflect all heritages and backgrounds, as well as all genders and sexual identities.
The OneLove campaign is surrounded by controversy because same-sex relations are illegal and punishable by death in Qatar.
Sport has the power to unite & inspire so it’s vital that all sporting events, such as the #FIFAWorldCup, are open & inclusive. I’m wearing the #OneLove armband to support the LGBT community & send a positive message that everyone should feel welcome at all sport tournaments.
— Stuart Andrew (@StuartAndrew) November 29, 2022
FIFA rules and sanctions
FIFA does not permit football teams to make political statements. Ahead of the tournament, FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged the teams to “let football take the centre stage.” For this reason, FIFA announced monetary sanctions against the teams who wanted to wear the OneLove armband, as well as against individual players who wore the band.
Hours before England’s first game, the seven countries that set out to wear the band issued a joint statement confirming that they would not wear the armband throughout the tournament. This statement came after they learned that individual captains would receive sanctions for wearing the armbands. The federations were willing to pay a fine, but could not allow sanctions against individual players.
Before the start of the tournament, FIFA announced that it would provide its own armbands in partnership with the UN. It announced seven different armbands, all with different political messages, and available at different stages in the tournament. However, after the nations announced they would abandon the OneLove armband, FIFA announced that it would make its “No Discrimination” armband available throughout the entire tournament.
Subtle protests
The teams forced to abandon the OneLove armband have not abandoned their protests. England’s goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, expressed that the team “all stand for” LGBTQ+ rights but could not afford the captain, Harry Kane, getting a yellow card or suspended from games.
Meanwhile, Harry Kane was spotted wearing a rainbow watch ahead of the USA game to showcase his support for the LGBTQ+ community. Ahead of Germany’s first game in the tournament, the team took a picture where the players covered their mouths, to signal that they feel silenced by FIFA. Some players, including the captain and Manchester City’s Illkay Gundogan, wore boots with rainbow stitches.
Others affected by FIFA’s rules
Just now: Security guard refusing to let me into the stadium for USA-Wales. “You have to change your shirt. It’s not allowed.” pic.twitter.com/TvSGThMYq8
— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) November 21, 2022
Qatar’s ban of the OneLove Armband extends further than just to the players. Security refused entry to American journalist Grant Wahl to the USA and Wales game for wearing a rainbow t-shirt. Former Wales footballer Laura McAllister was also among the fans who were refused entry to the game for wearing rainbow bucket hats. Security also refused entry to a BBC cameraman for wearing a rainbow watch strap.
Featured image courtesy of Fauzan Saari via Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
