Denmark, which plans to leave the world football governing body, is threatening a hellish time for Fifa because they are upset that their players cannot wear an armband to support the LGBT community.
The governing body warns it will penalize captains of 7 European teams if they go ahead with the vow to wear the ‘One Love’ logo in violation of rules.
Any player violating the Fifa rule prohibiting the armband during the Qatar World Cup 2022 runs the risk of receiving a yellow card.
If they continue to wear the armband, they also run the risk of receiving a red card, which would result in their disqualification from the World Cup.
The countries involved in the plans to wear the armband thought they would only be fined and were to be okay with them wearing the band eventually.
But Fifa incorporated last-minute rules just before the first match starts at the World Cup. The displays are a violation of FIFA rules.
Denmark’s World Cup stance
Not willing to take the risk, the seven nations opted to drop their plans but Denmark is making an international fuss about it.
Not only it wants to quit Fifa, but it is also in talks with other member nations in Europe to follow them in what could become an instant collapse of the football’s oldest international governing body.
The latest argument that threatened to overshadow the World Cup was the standoff about the armband.
Qatar has imposed many rules for the World Cup teams and its wish is they do not display the armband.
Since winning the right to host the World Cup in 2010, the conservative Muslim nation of Qatar has come under fire for its treatment of low-wage migrant workers and its criminalization of homosexuality.
The choice to issue yellow cards to the players wearing the disputed armband comes days after the Qatari government abruptly banned beer sales in stadiums.
It also came only a few days after FIFA President Gianni Infantino launched an extraordinary appeal in defence of the host country’s human rights record.
One of the leading actor in the armband protest is Harry Kane. Recently, he expressed his dissatisfaction at not being allowed to wear the One Love armband.
As we know, the armband would be worn by Wales’ Gareth Bale and England’s Kane during games to encourage diversity and inclusion. For Qatar it is a sign of respect for their culture not to wear the armband.
The Spurs star had to wear a Fifa armband instead
Kane said: “The decision was taken out of my hands. I am disappointed.
“I turned up to the stadium with the armband that I wore and I was told I had to wear that.
Jesper Moller, the head of the Danish FA (DBU), said that Denmark is considering leaving Fifa and is prepared to hold negotiations with any of the 55 countries that make up Uefa, including England.
They are open to discussing a complete expulsion from the global authority.
But leaving Fifa just because of an armband? That will be a tall order though we can predict that Fifa will have a hard time after the World Cup is over.
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