How FA tied themselves in knots over Pep’s ribbon
NeVeR see it coming, do they? The day the FA won the right for england players to wear poppies, an individual with foresight at the organisation should have looked at their great victory and asked: how does this affect us?
Not in terms of a lap of honour around Wembley, or the praise and plaudits showered on them for such a patriotic act. Not in terms of design, presentation or the order of ceremony on the night. how does it affect the FA rulebook? What happens if other people, other nations, turn out to have days of remembrance or issues of national significance that are important to them?
The FA presides over arguably the most cosmopolitan league in the world. Did it never occur to them there may be issues?
May 4, for instance, is Dodenherdenking in holland. It translates as ‘ remembrance of the dead’. All civilian and military members who have died in conflict since World War II are commemorated. The main ceremony takes place in Dam Square and at 8pm everything stops, even public transport, for two minutes’ silence.
Volkstrauertag is its equivalent in Germany, two Sundays before Advent. There are marches to war memorials, the playing of the national anthem and the song Ich
hatt’ einen Kameraden (‘I had a comrade’). Memorial Day in South Korea is June 6. every country has them.
Britain’s poppies are not a special case. And once they were allowed it followed that other symbols, other acknowledgements of national feeling that were until then personal and had nothing to do with sport, would jostle for position in the stadium or on attire.
Like Pep Guardiola’s yellow ribbon. Didn’t take long, did it? This one is fascinating, though, because unlike a lot of conflicts, nobody on either side appears to have any idea how it is going to pan out. The FA wrote letters warning him to stop displaying his yellow ribbon, a gesture of solidarity with those imprisoned for demanding a recognised vote on Catalan independence. he carried on regardless. Now he has been formally charged.
Manchester City are taking legal advice before deciding on a response. Short term they have little option but to support their employee, particularly as this appears to be a deal-breaker.
‘Before a manager, I am a human being,’ Guardiola said. ‘ The FA know that I’ll wear the yellow ribbon always.’
And if he does, what happens? There is no question Guardiola is contravening FA rules regarding political messages. he could be fined, say, £25,000 and would surely pay it. But he wouldn’t modify his behaviour.
So he will be charged again. And if the set fee for non-compliance is £25,000 again, he will no doubt write another cheque. And another. And another.
Yet persistent disobedience is invariably met with escalating punishment. The sums increase, different plans of attack are implemented. A touchline ban, suspended. A touchline ban, enforced. A touchline ban, lengthened.
Is this where the FA are heading? The most compelling presence to arrive in the english game in decades and we drive him out, or at least to the stands, over a yellow ribbon because nobody at the FA had the common sense to update the rulebook.
UeFA did. Not solely because of the FA’s victory over poppies, but in part. europe’s governing body decided symbols were permissible unless they were considered offensive. Swastikas and other emblems of oppression remain outlawed. Poppies and yellow ribbons are fine.
WhAT are the rainbow laces that signify support for gay rights, if not a political symbol? The FA are hugely inconsistent in this area. Bad poker players, too. If they were bluffing in the hope Guardiola was going to back down, he has called them. If they step away now, they look weak.
Surely, this could have been resolved with communication, negotiation, forethought.
Coming into line with UeFA’s thinking would have prevented confrontation; discussing whether Guardiola would be prepared to wear the ribbon under his outer layer of clothing when the match is on — there is no problem with other public appearances, such as press conferences — might have achieved compromise.
The third way, the most sensible way, is to decree that commercial logos or club crests aside, all symbols — from poppies to rainbows and ribbons — are not to be worn as they are nothing to do with football.
It is too late for that now. Still, the FA got their little moment of cheap, poppy-day glory. And the inevitable backlash, they alone did not foresee.