Harry Kane And Gareth Bale Won't Wear OneLove Armbands Due To FIFA Threats

The captains of England and Wales will NOT wear OneLove armbands during games at the World Cup in Qatar.

Homosexuality and same-sex relationships are illegal in Qatar.

Harry Kane and Gareth Bale were among nine captains that had been planning to wear to colorful armbands to show their support for the LGBT+ community.

But the Football Associations of England and Wales issued identical statements on Monday morning, just hours before their teams were due to start their Group B campaigns, to confirm that their captains would not be representing the OneLove campaign on the pitch in Qatar.

OneLove armbands were widely worn during the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League but FIFA threatened to impose "sporting sanctions" - possibly including yellow or red cards - if players wore them at the World Cup.

FIFA's reasoning was that the armbands made a political statement, which players are not allowed to do using clothing on the pitch.

Captains are instead expected to wear armbands promoting FIFA's "No Discrimination" campaign.

Harry Kane pictured wearing a OneLove captain's armband during England's 2022/23 UEFA Nations League campaign

IMAGO/PA Images/Nick Potts

Announcing their decision to back down under pressure from FIFA, the FA statements read: "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 attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games.

"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.

"We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe 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, and had no response.

"Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways."