RBFA reaction to ban One Love captain's armband
Over the past few days, the RBFA, together with the other countries represented in the UEFA working group, has been consulting with FIFA on the important outstanding human rights issues in Qatar.
After making good progress on the issue of the Migrant Workers' Centre and the Migrant Workers' Compensation Fund, unfortunately no agreement was reached on the wearing of the One Love captain's armband. On the contrary: FIFA has enacted unprecedented measures on the wearing of the One Love captain's armband.
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 wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup matches. 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.
The RBFA and the players are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which is unprecedented. We wrote to FIFA in September informing them of our wish to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in football. We have tried several times to avoid escalating this initiative on values that FIFA and the European federations share, after all, but we have had no response. Our players and coaches are very disappointed, but they decided not to wear the One Love captain's armband in order not to take any sporting risks. They are strong supporters of inclusion and will continue to show support in other ways.
The RBFA, as well as the other countries concerned, will take a critical look at their relationship with FIFA in the coming period.