News this morning is that FIFA have threatened to discipline any captain who wears any insignia supporting unity and equality at this years World Cup. After seemingly being positive at such action in September when the associations wrote to FUFA it now transpires they were not supportive all along.
The decision to not enable captains to wear ‘one love’ armbands has been met with derision and in some areas shock. Wales first minister who is in Qatar responded to FIFA president Gianni Infantino after his bizarre and unhelpful speech yesterday. "In our own history, we have had times when things that we have done, including things that we have done in other parts of the world, wouldn’t measure up to the sorts of beliefs and standards that we hold ourselves to today. So to take a moment to reflect on our own histories, it’s not a moment wasted. The second thought I had listening to what was said was to remind me of Healy’s first law of holes. Some people will remember Denis Healey, the great labour politician. And his first law of holes was when you’re in one, stop digging."
For FIFA to threaten disciplinary action by awarding yellow cards was a prime opportunity to reduce these games to beyond the minimum amount of players allowed to play. It would have been brave but how better a way to counter FIFA’s continued and disgusting way of inadvertently supporting non inclusion in this years World Cup. Get booked, pass the arm band on, get booked and at some point there is insufficient players on the pitch. And this after Gianni Infantino said. "Today I feel Qatari, Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker.” And all because he had ginger hair !
In a unified statement from the associations of both England and Wales a statement was released this morning. "FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play," a joint statement from the Football Associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland said. 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."
The words are now lost in pressure from FIFA who this morning support abuse, non inclusion and everything that makes our world unequal and divisive. For the associations to back down may well keep the equilibrium at this years World Cup, but what it really displays is Qatar has won. This isn’t about respecting the country you are being hosted by. This is about supporting everything g that is wrong about this years tournament.
FIFA are a disgusting car crash of a governing body wrapped in fraudulent actions and lies to cover up their real agenda and that’s to support filthy regimes and reward them with billions of pounds, you really cant make it up.