4:59 AM ET
Tom HamiltonSenior Writer
- • Joined ESPN successful 2011
• Covered 2 Olympics, a brace of Rugby World Cups and 2 British & Irish Lions tours
• Previously rugby editor, and became elder writer successful 2018
The captains of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands volition not deterioration the OneLove anti-discrimination armband successful their World Cup openers aft confirmation that their captains would beryllium fixed yellowish cards if they took portion successful the initiative.
The announcement came conscionable earlier their World Cup campaigns were scheduled to start. The nationalist federations said they were prepared to wage a good for their captains to deterioration the OneLove armband, but erstwhile it became wide their captains would beryllium sanctioned, they had to alteration plans.
"FIFA has been precise wide that it volition enforce sporting sanctions if our captains deterioration the armbands connected the tract of play," a associated connection from the nations read. "As nationalist federations, we can't enactment our players successful a presumption wherever they could look sporting sanctions including bookings, truthful we person asked the captains not to effort to deterioration the armbands successful FIFA World Cup games.
"We were prepared to wage fines that would usually use to breaches of kit regulations and had a beardown committedness to wearing the armband. However, we cannot enactment our players successful the concern wherever they mightiness beryllium booked oregon adjacent forced to permission the tract of play.
"We are precise frustrated by the FIFA determination which we judge is unprecedented -- we wrote to FIFA successful September informing them of our privation to deterioration the One Love armband to actively enactment inclusion successful football, and had nary response. Our players and coaches are disappointed -- they are beardown supporters of inclusion and volition amusement enactment successful different ways."
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