FIFA subsequently confirmed its 'No Discrimination' campaign had been brought forward, seemingly in an attempt to limit criticism that will follow the decision not to wear the OneLove armband, which Kane will wear for England's opener against Iran.
"Following discussions, FIFA can confirm its No Discrimination campaign has been brought forward from the planned quarter-finals stage in order that all 32 captains will have the opportunity to wear this armband during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022," the governing body said."FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play. 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 statement read.We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband. However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.But on Monday morning, FA CEO Mark Bullingham said England had been exploring whether there is "another way to show our values" after FIFA threatened to book any captain wearing the OneLove rainbow armband in World Cup matches.Less than an hour later, a statement released by the Football Associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland confirmed they would not wear the armband.FIFA subsequently confirmed its 'No Discrimination' campaign had been brought forward, seemingly in an attempt to limit criticism that will follow the decision not to wear the OneLove armband, which Kane will wear for England's opener against Iran.Following discussions, FIFA can confirm its No Discrimination campaign has been brought forward from the planned quarter-finals stage in order that all 32 captains will have the opportunity to wear this armband during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022," the governing body said.This is in line with Article 13.8.1 of the FIFA Equipment Regulations, which state: "For FIFA Final Competitions, the captain of each team must wear the captain's armband provided by FIFA."
"The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 regulations, as approved by everyone in the game, exist to preserve the integrity of the field of play for all participants and are equally applicable to all competing teams.FIFA is an inclusive organisation that wants to put football to the benefit of society by supporting good and legitimate causes, but it has to be done within the framework of the competition regulations which are known to everyone."Sky Sports News reporters Kaveh Solhekol and Rob Dorsett discussed the decision on Monday morning, presenting both sides of the argument in a passionate debate.
"It is an extraordinary climb-down by the FA," said Solhekol. "They are going to get criticised a lot for it and, to be fair, I think they deserve a lot of that criticism."OK, Harry Kane would have got a yellow card - so what? Surely he should have just taken that yellow card on the chin? The focus would have then been on FIFA, because they would have had to justify, showing Kane - one of the best players in the world, one of the faces of this tournament, the holder of the Golden Boot from the last World Cup - a yellow card before the tournament had even kicked off for England because he's wearing an armband.
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