The Lionesses intend to use all eight of the captain’s armband options offered by Fifa, choosing to carry a different message in each game. “We felt really strongly about all the causes and we couldn’t separate one from the other,” said the captain, Millie Bright.
“We feel that they are all important and deserve recognition and our support. We have only just come to a decision recently as we wanted to take time to process it all and to make sure we spoke collectively.”
England kick off their World Cup campaign against Haiti on Saturday, when Bright – should she be fit to start – or Mary Earps will wear the Unite for Inclusion armband. That is the closest to the OneLove armband that teams, including England, were banned from wearing at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year.
For the second game, against Denmark next Friday, the England captain will wear the Unite for Indigenous People armband and for the final group game, against China, the Unite for Gender Equality armband will be used. Should England progress, the captain will wear the Unite for Peace, Unite for Education For All, Unite for Zero Hunger, Unite for Ending Violence Against Women and the Football is Joy Peace, Hope, Love & Passion armbands, in that order.
“Supporting Indigenous people is massively important to us as a team, both staff and players,” Bright said. “We wanted to come to this country and respect the past, the present and the future. We are aware of the past but we want to move forward collectively and make the world a better place. It is something that we always pride ourselves on.
“We have been honoured with two ceremonies and to be able to have conversations and educate ourselves a little bit more on the Aboriginal people and everything which comes with the culture is amazing. We feel really honoured to have had the opportunity.
“As a team, we know what we stand for, what we believe in and we also know the changes that we want to make. So regardless of an armband, we would like to think our actions and our morals represent everything that we believe in and stand for.”
