Harry Kane, England captain, along with other European captains from Wales, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have agreed to not wear the ‘OneLove’, armband at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
FIFA had threatened to slam the England captain and others who wear the OneLove armband onto the pitch with instant yellow cards.
The football governing body also threatened to give a second yellow card if the armband is worn to a second match, which would lead to the player automatically missing the third match.
In a joint statement on Monday by the football associations of the European countries, they confirmed the u-turn on their stance following the threat by FIFA.
The statement according to the Guardian UK reads, “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.
“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.”
The OneLove armband is designed to show solidarity with minority groups that are criminalised in the host nation, Qatar.
England’s opening match at the World Cup is against Iran on Monday afternoon.