Qatar 2022: 7 nations decide not to wear "One Love" armband to avoid sporting sanctions from FIFA

The Football Associations of England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Wales have decided not to have their national team captains wear the "One Love" armband (which stands for support for the LBGTQ+ minorities discriminated against in Qatar) for fear of sporting sanctions against their players, according to a joint statement published on 21/11/2022.

"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," explained the seven European Federations.

"We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is…