Qatar 2022: blizzard over rainbow band

FIFA forces national teams to drop out: statement arrives

The federations of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, England, Wales, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland issued a joint statement explaining that the rainbow One Love sash will not be worn by the captains of the various national teams at Qatar 2022 at the imposition of FIFA.

“Fifa has been clear, it will sanction our captains with a warning if they take the field with the rainbow sash. As federations, we cannot put our players in the situation where they could be cautioned or even forced to leave the field of play, so we have asked our captains not to attempt to wear the sash during FIFA World Cup matches.”

“We are very disappointed with FIFA’s decision, which we believe is unprecedented: we wrote to FIFA in September informing them of our desire to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in soccer and have not heard back. Our players and coaches are disappointed: they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways.”