The FA have confirmed England will not change the colour of their home shorts during the Women's Euros after serious concerns were raised by players.
The Lionesses are worried about the impracticality of wearing white apparel while players are on their period. The issue was raised by England striker Beth Mead following their 1-0 victory against Austria in Wednesday evening's tournament opener at Old Trafford.
The FA have told players their concerns "will be taken in taken into consideration for future designs" but will not make the amendments, despite the tournament only just starting. The Lionesses have been handed an all-white home kit by manufacturer Nike.
"We recognise the importance and want our players to feel our full support on this matter," an FA spokesperson told The Athletic. "Any feedback made by them will be taken into consideration for future designs.
"We will continue to work in close consultation with our partners Nike, while still following guidance from tournament organisers where possible in terms of colour choices."
England's home kit for last summer's Men's Euros was not all-white, containing navy shorts. Nike have claimed: "We absolutely hear and understand the concerns of our athletes that wearing light coloured apparel while having their period can be a real barrier to sport.
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"We are deeply engaged with our athletes in the process of designing solutions to meet their needs, while also consulting the clubs, federations and sporting associations that set uniform standards and colours."
Speaking after England's win against Austria, Mead said: "It’s very nice to have an all white kit but sometimes it’s not practical when it’s the time of the month. We have discussed it as a team and we have fed that back to Nike. Hopefully they’re going to change that."
The Arsenal forward's comments were echoed by Lionesses team-mate Georgia Stanway, who admitted the issue was a "difficult question" because supporters "associate England with white". Stanway added: "I think next year there is potentially [going to be] a colour change. It’s hard because once you’re on the grass nothing else matters."
The discussion over whether female athletes should be forced to wear white apparel has also dominated Wimbledon. Demonstrators gathered outside of the All England Club ahead of the women's final between Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur on Saturday to protest the competition's rule on athletes wearing all-white outfits.
"These archaic rules were written years ago by men and they have gotten stricter and stricter over the years," protester Gabriella Holmes told The Telegraph. "It’s about time they were rewritten with menstruation in mind. We're not asking for drastic changes.
"Maybe the Wimbledon board can sit down and make a couple of amendments that consider the fact that women are competing on their period and it's adding to their pressure when they're performing at this level."
