FIFA’s ban on the “One Love” armband caused quite a stir at the Men’s World Cup. The women are allowed to wear a similar captain’s armband, with one restriction.
No rainbow, but a colourful message for inclusion: In contrast to the men’s World Cup, the World Football Association allows multi-coloured captain’s armbands in the style of the “One Love” armband at the Women’s World Cup. Various bandages with messages on social themes are permitted at the tournament in Australia and New Zealand this summer, as FIFA announced on Friday. However, no captain’s armbands in the classic rainbow colours are planned, which the German team around captain Alexandra Popp had recently advocated.
The striker nevertheless expressed her satisfaction with the decision. “We can also see ourselves well in the motifs now decided on for the captain’s armband, these also reflect our values,” said the 32-year-old, according to a statement from the German Football Association. The team had been informed about the various options and involved in the process, he added. “We will now decide together in the team which armband we will wear,” Popp said.
FIFA wanted to highlight various social issues during the Women’s World Cup from 20 July to 20 August in cooperation with United Nations organisations, the world governing body said. “After many open discussions with stakeholders, including member associations and players, we have decided to highlight a range of social issues – from inclusion to gender equality, from peace to ending hunger, from education to domestic violence – during all 64 matches at the Women’s World Cup,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in the statement.
At the Men’s World Cup in Qatar at the end of 2022, there had been a major controversy surrounding the captain’s armbands. In addition to the rainbow armband, the so-called “One Love” armband was also banned by FIFA under threat of sanctions. The armband features a heart in bright colours and the slogan “One Love”. The ban on the armband also caused a lot of commotion when the DFB team was eliminated from the preliminary round. It resulted in captain Manuel Neuer and the other players putting their hands over their mouths before the opening match against Japan.
The World Federation had announced after the Men’s World Cup that it would enter into dialogue with the associations. Germany’s captain Popp had recently declared that her team would “very much like” to play with the rainbow armband at the World Cup. The rainbow colours stand for more diversity in society.
“We are also perfectly fine with playing with a different armband afterwards,” the 32-year-old striker said most recently. The FIFA armband for inclusion now features the same colours as the “One Love” armband. The German Football Association had announced last year before the Men’s World Cup that the armband should be a sign against any discrimination and for any form of diversity. “Red, black and green are found in the Pan African flag, pink, yellow and blue symbolise the Pansexual flag,” a statement from the DFB said at the time.
At the World Cup, the players now have three options: They can wear a captain’s armband with “Football Unites the World” printed on it for the entire tournament, or they can wear an armband with the same message for the entire tournament or an armband with a specific theme for each match day.