The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Political football in play – straight from kick-off
England captain Harry Kane was left disappointed after not wearing a rainbow-coloured antidiscrimination armband in their World Cup matches under threat of sporting sanctions from Fifa – while Jack Grealish said it was “a bit stupid” to prevent the skipper from doing so.
On the day the Three Lions kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 6-2 win over Iran, a joint statement from seven European nations who had signed up to the Onelove campaign – which included England and Wales – confirmed the armbands would no longer be worn due to fear of a yellow card being issued.
The band contains the rainbow colours associated with the Pride flag and had been set to be a strong statement in Qatar, a country which criminalises same-sex relationships.
Kane instead wore Fifa’s ‘No discrimination’ armband – which is not rainbow coloured – after the organising body brought forward its own campaign on Saturday for the finals in Qatar. The Tottenham striker had previously sported the Onelove armband in Uefa matches this season after the participating nations were given permission but he was unable to do so at the Khalifa International Stadium.
“We’re disappointed,” he said. “We wanted to wear it, that decision was taken out of my hands. I turned up to the stadium with the armband that I wore and I was told I had to wear that.
“Look, it’s out of our control as players. I’m sure the FA and Fifa will
continue those discussions but most importantly today we focused on the game and got a great result.
“You’ve seen over the last five years we’ve made a stand as a squad and we’ll continue to do that as much as we can. We took the knee today as well but sometimes these decisions aren’t up to us.”
Grealish, who came off the bench to score England’s last goal, was asked if he had a message for the LGBTQ+ community.
“We feel strongly about it. We are with them, we wish they were here with us. At the end of the day, all I can say is we wanted to wear it,” he told ITV.
“Obviously we wanted to wear it. I think it is a bit stupid why we couldn’t. Harry himself wanted to wear it, we all wanted Harry to wear it but sometimes in life and in football things are out of your control and there’s not much you can do about it.”
The participating nations had been set to wear the armband going into the finals but, with England the first to take to the field, it was their game which garnered the most attention.
Manager Gareth Southgate said he appreciated Fifa’s stance on the matter but that the issue was not going to prove a distraction.
Kane had been due to wear the Onelove armband, while Wales skipper Gareth Bale was set to sport it in the match against the United States. A suspension is issued after two bookings in this tournament, meaning had either player been booked ahead of kick-off, they would already be walking a tightrope.