FIFA may allow rainbow bracelets at the Women’s World Cup
FIFA is moving closer to allowing teams to wear rainbow-colored armbands that promote inclusivity at this year’s Women’s World Cup, potentially reversing a policy that specifically banned similar armbands at last year’s Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
In November, FIFA threatened teams and their captains with heavy penalties in its attempt to silence a long-planned anti-discrimination statement just hours before the start of the World Cup, leading to a rift in relations between football’s governing body and different competing countries.
But this week, after months of discussions between football leaders and national federations planning to allow their players to highlight causes that matter to them on women’s football’s biggest stage, FIFA plans to send a letter with the bracelet rules for the 32 teams. who will participate in the tournament.
The letter could be sent to the teams as early as Wednesday, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions who refused to speak publicly because FIFA’s final decision had not yet been communicated to its members.
The agreement, which appears to have been reached, will allow captains of teams wishing to participate in efforts to promote inclusiveness – a FIFA-approved message that will be the theme for the first round – to wear rainbow colored armbands during matches in the month-long event in Australia and New Zealand.
The design, like the so-called One Love version banned in Qatar, is said to be similar in color to the well-known flag that serves as a symbol of LGBTQ pride, but is purposely not identical to it.
According to people familiar with the talks, FIFA will let individual countries decide whether or not to wear the rainbow armband, and it will offer opting out captains and teams choices by displaying other social justice words and phrases on a solid blue armband. emphasis, or a neutral FIFA bracelet with the message ‘Football Unites the World’.
In the later rounds of the tournament, FIFA and national teams will promote themes beyond inclusiveness. For example, co-host Australia is pushing for a bracelet highlighting the rights of Indigenous citizens. (In a related decision, FIFA plans to hang indigenous flags at World Cup stadiums in Australia and New Zealand as a show of support for an issue of particular concern to both host countries.)
It was not easy to come to a consensus on bracelets. At one point in the months of sometimes contentious talks between FIFA and the teams, there was a growing feeling that the rainbow-colored armbands that supporters of the inclusivity campaign were seeking would not be allowed. As recently as March, a top German official said her team had been told directly by FIFA that the rainbow armbands players have been wearing for years would not be allowed at the Women’s World Cup.
Federation officials hope that will not be the case when FIFA informs teams of its final plans this week.
Players from several Women’s World Cup teams have spoken about their intention to highlight support for the LGBTQ community during the month-long tournament, in which dozens of gay players will participate. A handful of teams already wear rainbow armbands in many of their games, and other players and teams have used armbands and wristbands in the past to promote things like sexual abuse, gender equality And arms control.
FIFA may be just as eager to take the issue off the table after the pushback, public protests and online scorn it received over the ban on rainbow bracelets in Qatar, a country where homosexuality is outlawed.
“We’ve all been through a learning process,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said of the armband battle during a visit to London in March. “What we will try to do better this time around is to engage in a dialogue with all those involved – the captains, the federations, the players, FIFA – to capture the different sensitivities and see what can be done to point of view, a value, or a feeling that someone has in a positive way, without hurting anyone else.
“We are looking for dialogue and we will have a solution well before the Women’s World Cup,” he predicted at the time. The tournament starts on July 20.