Women’s World Cup: Football Australia “confident” rainbow bands will be allowed
James Johnson, Chief Executive of Football Australia, has shared that he is “pretty confident and optimistic” rainbow armbands will be allowed at the Women’s World Cup.
Plans to wear the OneLove armbands were abandoned by six European countries, including England, at the 2022 Qatar World Cup due to Fifa rules stating that political, religious or personal slogans, statements and/or images are not allowed on team equipment.
Players were even warned wearing one would result in “sporting sanctions” and an instant yellow card. There is now growing concern that the upcoming women’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July to August, will follow suit in not allowing the anti-discrimination armbands. READ MORE: World Cup: England and Wales opt not to wear OneLove armband after FIFA threat “We’ve had very good dialogue with Fifa and it’s meaningful,” Johnson told the Observer. “They are not paying lip service to this.
We’re in the middle of that process and we’re pretty confident and optimistic that we’ll end up in a good place: a place where players have the ability to express themselves in certain areas, which keeps the players happy, it keeps the host nation happy and also Fifa happy as well.
