European teams cave on OneLove armbands as FIFA threatens yellow cards

The threat of yellow cards was too much to bear for seven European nations

Seven European teams will no longer wear “OneLove” armbands at the World Cup after FIFA threatened offending players with yellow cards.

The countries were adamant their captains would wear the armbands, featuring a rainbow heart logo, but the threat of sporting sanctions was too much to bear for England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

“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 said in a joint statement.

“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 armbands were a statement of defiance against Qatar, which criminalizes homosexuality. In response, FIFA introduced its own armbands for players to wear, featuring the following messages:

“We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision,” the statement from the European nations said. “Our players and coaches are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways.”

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