England, Germany, Netherlands, Wales, Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark have released a joint statement confirming why they won’t be wearing the One Love armband at the 2022 World Cup.
The European countries wanted to wear the armband as a sign of protest against Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. But,
under pressure from FIFA, who forced to book the players wearing the armbands at matches, the FAs have been forced to withdraw their plans.
FIFA World Cup 2022: European clubs opt out of wearing One Love armband
“FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” an official statement from the national teams read.
“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,” it added.
This only adds to the drama surrounding the 2022 edition of the World Cup in Qatar. Prior to the One Love armband, the gross violation of human rights while constructing the stadiums were a major source of protest. And this has become the latest in a list of such events.
