England, Germany and five other European teams at the FIFA World Cup on Monday abandoned plans to wear a rainbow-themed armband in support of LGBTQ rights, citing the threat of disciplinary action from FIFA.
“FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” they said in a joint statement.
Under FIFA rules, players wearing kit that is not authorised by football’s world governing body could be shown a yellow card.
If that player was then shown a second yellow card, they would be sent off.
The “OneLove” armband which the likes of England captain Harry Kane and his Germany counterpart Manuel Neuer wanted to wear was designed as part of a campaign to promote inclusivity.
The armbands had widely been viewed as a protest against laws in host nation Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
“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,” the federations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland said.