Fifa ‘bullies’ are slammed over armband threat
QATAR and Fifa were condemned as bullies yesterday for threatening England captain Harry Kane with a booking or worse if he dared to wear a rainbow armband.
An extraordinary stand- off raged during the night before the FA capitulated three hours ahead of yesterday’s game against Iran.
Fans called the FA ‘spineless’ after it said it could not risk the player potentially being ‘forced to leave the field of play’ for wearing a OneLove armband, an anti-discrimination symbol, in a country where homosexuality is illegal.
Football’s governing body has strict rules about apparel and the rainbow armband was banned.
Kane and the FA had vowed to defy the ban on principle even if it meant a hefty financial fine.
But after talks with unyielding Fifa officials overnight, England, Wales and six other European nations announced defeat. For the game, Kane instead wore the Fifa-approved ‘No Discrimination’ armband. A statement from the group said: ‘We cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked, or even forced to leave the field of play.’ Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: ‘The OneLove armband was the tiniest of gestures. It was a weak campaign but even that was too much for Fifa, who have bullied the England team to not wear it.’
He called on captains to ‘spend just 30 seconds’ at press conferences speaking on rights of women, LGBT people and migrant workers, adding: ‘Fifa have crushed the OneLove campaign with the threat of yellow cards. It’s time to show Fifa and Qatar the red card.’
At the Khalifa International Stadium, England fan Steve Wright, 43, from Derby, said: ‘They’re just bowing to the oppression of the Qatari government.’ But Simon Hill, 55, from near Cambridge, said: ‘Focus on the football.’
However, BBC presenter Alex Scott wore the rainbow armband at the stadium during the build up to the England game. Last night Fifa ordered Belgium to change its second kit and remove the word ‘Love’ from the collar of the rainbow-trimmed white shirt.