​Seven out of nine European countries have announced that they have abandoned the “One Love” banner, which promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion and rights.

National teams won’t risk losing their captains for wearing the One Love armband

In a press release, the seven national teams of the old continent said that they have abandoned the initiative, which involved the wearing of the “One Love” armband.

England, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Wales have rejected this form of protest against Qatar, which criminalizes same-sex relationships.

“FIFA has clearly stated that it will impose sports sanctions if all our captains wear this armband on the field.

We cannot subject our players to sporting sanctions, so we have asked our captains not to attempt to wear this armband during the World Cup.

We were willing to pay the fines that are usually applied for violating the dress code, and we decided to wear this headband.

We are very disappointed by this decision by FIFA, which we believe is unprecedented.

Our players and coaches are disappointed, are big supporters of inclusion and will show their support in other ways,” the teams said in a press release.

FIFA’s kit rules state that: “At FIFA tournaments, match officials must wear official clothing and equipment provided by FIFA, including competition badges as determined and provided by FIFA.”

FIFA has launched its own captain’s armband as part of a social campaign with the United Nations, which will promote a separate campaign for each round of the tournament. The theme of the quarter finals will be “no discrimination”, but LGBTQ+ rights are not mentioned in any of the campaigns.

Since being appointed in late 2010 to host this global event, Qatar has been the subject of constant criticism over allegations of corruption, inhumane working conditions for migrants, respect for the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the impact on the environment.

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