Fifa accused of a sinister abuse of power
Fifa has been accused of a “sinister abuse of power” in the Onelove armband row by Kick It Out.
The captains of seven nations, including England and Wales, had been due to wear the rainbow-coloured anti-discrimination armbands at the World Cup in Qatar, a country where samesex relationships are criminalised. However, the plans weredroppedwhenitbecame apparent in the hours before England’s first match of the finalsagainstiranonmonday thatsportingsanctionswould be imposed.
It is understood a booking to the captain wearing the band would have only been the starting point of the sanctions, with Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and the other five skippers also set to have been prevented from entering the pitch wearing it.
Germany protested against Fifa’s stance by covering their mouths for a team photo before their match against Japanonwednesday,tohighlight how they felt silenced.
Wales have said they will not protest before their match against Iran on Friday, and it is unclear what England will do when they face the United States on Friday evening.
Sanjay Bhandari, the chair of Kick It Out, responded to a tweetsuggestingtheonelove captains faced ‘unlimited liability’ over the armbands and wrote on Twitter: “What Fifa did is beyond failing to live their values and is a sinister abuse of power designed to silence – hence the German gag protest.
“I guess if you hang around with autocratic dictators long enough, you start picking up some of their habits.”