BBC pundit Alex Scott decided to wear the OneLove armband in support of the LGBTQ+ community while on air ahead of England's opening World Cup match against Iran.
England opted against wearing the armband in Qatar due to the threat that captain Harry Kane could receiving a yellow card for doing so. The late decision from the FA has been heavily criticised and Scott did not follow suit.
After the programme was introduced by presenter Gary Lineker, with pundits Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards in the studio, the coverage cut to reporter Kelly Somers and Scott pitchside at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
Scott did a short piece to camera about Gareth Southgate's chosen line-up and where Iran could be exploited, without mentioning the armband. But before handing back to Lineker in the studio, Somers did briefly mention Scott's decision to wear the armband.
Former England right-back Scott, who has 140 caps for her country, has been a vocal critic of Qatar's human rights record and treatment of LGBTQ+ people in the build-up to the World Cup.
England captain Kane had planned to wear the OneLove armband, alongside several other international captains, throughout the tournament. However, the FA changed their mind in the lead up to the match by releasing a statement criticising FIFA.
The FA statement on Monday morning said: "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."
Former England defender, Rio Ferdinand, accused the seven European nations who had signed up to the One Love campaign of crumbling at the first sign of resistance.
Speaking in the BBC’s build-up to England’s game against Iran, Ferdinand said: “You can’t win as a footballer. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If you speak out people say you’re not a politician, be quiet, get back in your box. If you speak out ‘Oh you think you’re a politician now’.
“It’s very difficult and that’s why I think the federations have to be stronger, the organisations have to come at this together as a unified approach and say this is where we stand. They’ve had one bump in the road and they’ve all folded like a pack of cards.”
