Captains will not wear One Love armbands at World Cup

The football associations will not ask their captains to wear One Love armband during the World Cup because of threat by FIFA to impose sporting sanctions that could include a booking.

The rainbow armbands were due to be worn to promote diversity and inclusion in Qatar, where same-sex relationships are outlawed.

However, the governing soccer bodies of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland issued a joint statement about the One Love 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.

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“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.”

Qatar has faced criticism from some countries playing in the 32-team tournament over its rights record on migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ community.

Several other European teams, including world champions France and Portugal, have already announced they will not be wearing the One Love captain armband at the World Cup.