Fans all saying the same thing as England back down on wearing One Love armband after Fifa ultimatum
ENGLAND fans have been left furious after the FA decided AGAINST wearing the One Love armband following an ultimatum from Fifa.
Harry Kane was set to proudly display the rainbow symbol in a show of support for the LGBTQ+ community in Qatar.
Harry Kane and Co will no longer wear the One Love armband following a Fifa ultimatum, leaving England fans utterly furiousPA
The Three Lions were due to be joined by Wales, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark in wearing the statement armband.
But on Monday, just hours before England’s opening game against Iran, the nations revealed they would NOT go ahead having been warned they risked being booked even before kick off.
And fans were quick to let rip on social media – calling the FA “spineless” for caving in to Fifa‘s ultimatum.
Sky Sports presenter Joe Thomlinson tweeted: “Imagine how powerful the image of Kane wearing a rainbow armband and being yellow carded by a Fifa branded referee would be.
READ MORE WORLD CUP STORIES
“The FA should not buckle under the pressure. Wear the armband.
“Spineless. Genuinely spineless.”
Comedian Jon Richardson ranted: “The threat of a yellow card doesn’t stop players diving, fouling or abusing referees but it has stopped them showing solidarity with those who are threatened with death for being in love.
“What an absolute f***ing farce.”
PLAY OUR DREAM TEAM WORLD CUP FANTASY FOOTBALL GAME TO WIN A SHARE OF £50k
One fan added: “Spineless. Pathetic. Embarrassing.
“The FA can forget pretending that they care about the LGBT community and inclusion now, we all know it’s entirely vapid.”
Another wrote: “It was fine for England to defy Fifa [by wearing poppies]… shows the FA here is as spineless as we all thought.”
A disgruntled supporter tweeted: “The FA – Spineless.
“How are LGBTQ+ footballers supposed to come out and feel comfortable in themselves, when you can’t even wear an armband?
“Deplorable.”
One simply wrote: “Shame on you, Fifa. Bottled it.”
Earlier on Monday, a joint statement from England, Wales, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark 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 aslked 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 comitment to wearing the armband.
“However we cannot put our players in a position where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.
Read More on The Sun
“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.”
