FIFA, which has vocally defended Qatar in the face of criticism, rejected the “OneLove” campaign and instead has promoted its own “No Discrimination” campaign.
The European teams competing at the 2022 Qatar World Cup walked back their plans to wear “OneLove” armbands in support of LGBTQ rights during the tournament, they announced Monday, after warnings from international soccer governing body FIFA that they would be penalized for doing so.
Captains of the teams from the seven European nations competing in the World Cup — England, Wales, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands — made the announcement concerning the rainbow armbands, which are meant to signal support for diversity and inclusion.
In an unprecedented move just hours before matches began, FIFA warned it would issue a yellow card to any player wearing the armband. Two yellow cards in a game mean the player is sent off the field.
“FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” a joint statement from the countries’ soccer associations said. “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.
