FA chief executive Mark Bullingham has admitted England could drop the 'OneLove' armband amid risks Harry Kane could be booked in the tunnel before their World Cup opener.
Ahead of kick-off in Qatar the English FA were locked in talks with several other European football associations and FIFA over whether to proceed with the planned decision to wear the anti-discrimination armband campaign after the governing body warned on Sunday that the skipper's at risk of a sporting sanction. FIFA had requested that all captains wear a different armband on each match day, promoting social messages such as “Football unites the world” and “Share the meal”.
However, England and Tottenham striker Kane had planned to show supper for LGBTQ+ rights by wearing the OneLove rainbow captain’s armband. However, the FA appear to be considering a U-turn amid risks that their talisman could miss vital World Cup fixtures. Should Kane wear the rainbow captain's armband against Iran and the USA he risks missing the Battle of Britain clash with Wales.
Bullingham told BBC Radio 4 on Monday morning: “It is a very live situation and there are discussions that are carrying on. We are working through those issues right now. It is true to say that FIFA did indicate yesterday that there could be sporting sanctions and that’s something which we’ve got to work through.
"We’ve been clear that we want to wear the armband. It is important to us, but equally we need to work through all of the discussions right now and see where we end up.
“We would need to consider the implications. Normally in this kind of situation there would be a fine that would be paid and we’ve always said we would be happy to do that.
"Happy might be the wrong word, but we would be prepared to pay the fine because we think it is important to show our support for inclusion. f the sporting sanctions threat is real then we need have to look at that an we would need to step back and see if there is another way in which we could show our values.”
Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand has hit out at FIFA over the potential of yellow cards being shown, with his side among the nine nations who agreed to wear the armband at the tournament. Hjulmand insisted yellow cards should only be used for offences on the field of play ahead of their opener against Tunisia.
He said: “I think this shouldn’t be up to the players. This is not a players’ decision. “Imagine gong onto the pitch with clear yellow card? Sports’ sanctions should have something to do with the sport. “Yellow card? We can’t allow the players to go on the pitch with that."
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