How a Pro-LGBTQ+ Rights Armband Became World Cup Drama in Qatar
(CNN) -- FIFA President Gianni Infantino pleaded with countries to let football take center stage ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, but it hasn't quite worked out like that.Soccer's global governing body has found itself at loggerheads with seven European nations over the threat of sanctions for any player wearing a "OneLove" armband during games.The eleventh-hour announcement from FIFA has created a rift between soccer's governing body and the seven nations involved, although neither side has emerged free from criticism.The "OneLove" armband -- which features the outline of a heart striped in different colors -- was intended to be worn by captains from England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Wales at the World Cup to promote inclusion and display solidarity with people of different genders and sexual identities.But hours before England captain Harry Kane was scheduled to wear the armband against Iran on Monday, FIFA said any player wearing the armbands would receive a yellow card, putting them in danger of being sent off or banned from a later game in the tournament.FIFA regulations state that team captains must wear armbands provided by the governing body, even though it said it "supports all legitimate causes, such as 'OneLove.'"However, the debacle has rumbled on as a sideshow to the tournament itself.If players like Kane didn't wear the armband, Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib did as she talked to Infantino at the World Cup game between Belgium and Canada on Wednesday.German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser also wore the armband with Infantino sitting close by during her country's 2-1 defeat against Japan."It's quite scary for LGBTQ+ communities around the world to see our.
