England captain Harry Kane will not wear the OneLove armband against Iran on Monday - despite Jamie Carragher urging them to continue with the campaign.
The Football Association ditched the OneLove armband - which aims to promote diversity and inclusion - after FIFA threatened to book Kane against Iran. Global football's governing body launched their own armband initiative on the eve of the World Cup.
Kane would've been at greater risk of being sent off for wearing the armband, yet Carragher believes it was worth the risk. "He has to wear it because England have made a big noise about the fact that Harry Kane's going to wear this," Carragher told Sky Sports News.
"This is their almost protest, in some ways, to the World Cup being in Qatar and the situation - human rights and everything that goes on in the country that people have criticised. This was England's way of showing that they don't agree with everything that's going on with that's going on in the country. They can't pull out now.
"The fact that Harry Kane would get a yellow card - and I've seen some reports this morning that [claim] that would happen - I think that almost strengthens the campaign, if you like. I think for England to pull out of that - and not do that now because of a yellow card to Harry Kane - would be weak. I think it should make them more determined."
FIFA's initiative promotes environmentalism, education, healthy living, children's safety and anti-discrimination. Yet the latter armband will not be used until the knockout stages - one of the main reasons why England wanted to continue with the OneLove campaign.
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World Cup hosts Qatar have a poor human rights record, as same-sex relationships are outlawed and women's rights are curbed. It's understood thousands of migrant workers have lost their lives building the infrastructure for the World Cup, something Qatar disputes.
Kane confirmed his desire to wear the OneLove armband on Sunday. "I think we’ve made it clear as a team and a staff and organisation that we want to wear the armband," he said. "I know the FA are talking to FIFA at the moment, and I’m sure by game-time tomorrow they will have their decision. But, yeah, I think we’ve made it clear that we want to wear it."
Yet the OneLove armband will not be worn. "FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play," read a joint statement from the football associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
"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."
The national governing bodies were willing to accept a fine but "cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play".
The statement added: "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 OneLove armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response."
