FIFA backflips on banning ‘One Love’ bracelets at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and NZ

The controversial ‘One Love’ captain’s armband banned by Qatari officials before the start of the men’s World Cup is being allowed at the Women’s World Cup in Australia, albeit with a new design.

The special captain’s armband promoting anti-discrimination was not allowed at the men’s World Cup in Qatar. However, after several months of negotiations, a modified version of the bracelet was approved for the Women’s World Cup.

The original ‘One Love’ armband is still not an option for players to wear in this tournament.

However, FIFA unveiled eight different bracelets on Friday for the captains of the 32 teams taking part in the tournament to choose from.

One of the bracelets is called ‘Unite for Inclusion’. It’s heart-shaped and multicolored, though it’s not exactly the rainbow design originally worn.

FIFA worked with the United Nations Human Rights Office in Geneva to create the inclusion option.

It closely resembles the design of the One Love bracelet from the Netherlands, which was rejected by the socially conservative Qatar seven months ago.

The new bracelet design has six colors arranged in the same order as the original, namely red, black, green, pink, yellow and blue. However, the stripes now run horizontally instead of diagonally, as in the Dutch One Love design.

These colors also represent the flags associated with Pan-Africanism and Pansexuality.

Australian captain and world’s best player Sam Kerr (in yellow) is openly gay

There are a number of gay players who are among the more than 700 who come from all corners of the world to compete in the World Cup, including Aussie skipper and world’s best player, Sam Kerr.

Kerr is the all-time leading scorer in both the Australian W-League and the United States National Women’s Soccer League.

She is the only woman to have won the Golden Boot in three different competitions in three different countries.

Legendary American star Megan Rapinoe will compete in her 4th and final World Cup. She is also openly gay and was named Best FIFA Woman Player in 2019 after winning the Ballon d’Or Féminin.

Pernille Harder is one of Europe’s top female gay footballers.

She plays for Bayern Munich and the Denmark women’s national football team as a striker or attacking midfielder. In 2018, Harder was named the best female football player in Europe. She has been named Danish Footballer of the Year seven times.

Harder made headlines in 2019 after kissing longtime girlfriend Magdalena Eriksson during the 2019 World Cup.

And while the bracelets are a break for inclusion, not all onlookers are happy because they don’t directly reflect the globally accepted rainbow theme.

Pernille Harder, the Danish superstar who plays with Kerr at Chelsea, controversially kissed her friend Magdalena Eriksson during the 2019 World Cup

Legendary American striker Megan Rapinoe, who now wears blue hair (as opposed to her default purple look), is delighted with FIFA’s decision to allow One Love bracelets

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura praised the agreement for the Women’s World Cup in a FIFA statement.

“Thank you to the players and the teams for sharing your support for these causes,” she said.

‘Together we can make a difference.’

FIFA regulations require teams at the World Cup to wear only approved armbands and other equipment.

The goals on display in Australia and New Zealand include uniting for Indigenous peoples, gender equality, ending violence against women, peace and no hunger.

The agreement for this year’s Women’s World Cup will not necessarily carry over to future FIFA tournaments.

FIFA stressed the need to “respect global differences” in other countries.