Colorful captain’s armbands at the World Cup
No applause for FIFA!
A comment by Tobias Nordmann
06/30/2023, 7:15 p.m
FIFA’s ban on the “One Love” armband is causing a stir at the Men’s World Cup. Women are now allowed to wear a similar captain’s armband. But FIFA doesn’t deserve compliments, because the decision exposes the cowardice of the world association.
Australia is not Qatar. That’s what FIFA has done for itself and shows it’s composure on non-critical terrain. At the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, messages of humanity are allowed. The players can choose from eight different captain’s armbands and can thus draw attention to social grievances around the world. But what exactly does FIFA want to sell as a “success”? Is it possible that the strips of fabric are now available with messages in advance and not only after a debate that got completely out of hand and that FIFA was only able to stifle with massive threats at the Qatar World Cup?
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino resigns 20 days before the World Cup opening game shows that the messages are sent in all 64 games. He looks very happy. As he always is when he has pushed through his agenda. As undisputed as the World Cup action in cooperation with the United Nations is, there was little resistance to overcome. The way to attitude is a short one. One that doesn’t hurt powerful friends in autocratic regimes. Especially since they are not prominently involved in the tournament “Down Under” anyway. At the same time, this path does not lead to excessive worldwide attention. That is also a massive difference to a men’s World Cup.
And that just exposes the cowardice of the world association. Where powerful interests are at work, where FIFA can generate a great deal of money, there it squirms out of social responsibility. Emphasizes the importance of the non-political game of football, which is a connecting element, but nothing more. Always concerned that sources of power and big money will dry up.
In Qatar, at the men’s World Cup at the end of last year, the panic went so far that the nations were threatened with sanctions if they had arbitrarily put the “One Love” bandage around their upper arms. As a bad compromise there was half a year ago pads with anti-discrimination messages provided by the world association, the core topic of diversity was politely avoided.
Popp is satisfied, she must be
The fact that FIFA then announced that it would enter into dialogue with the associations was the most devoted way out of a further escalation. Host Qatar was not snubbed and had previously been able to pull off his show to the end, right up to the instrumentalization of world champion Lionel Messi immediately after the final. Sport should be the opposite of the style represented by the powerful. It should not be used as an instrument. The truth: he was all along.
And so FIFA deserves no applause for providing the captains with eight colorful captain’s armbands at the World Cup. Especially since the rainbow, as a sign of tolerance for the LGBTIQ+ community and for more diversity in society, is still prohibited.
The fact that DFB captain Alexandra Popp is satisfied does not contradict the criticism. While she had championed the rainbow, she had also paved the way for compromise solutions. And the World Cup in Qatar showed what a fatal momentum a debate about the rainbow or “One Love” can take on. The German team had made a fool of themselves in sport and have not recovered from the consequences of the debacle to this day.
No, FIFA doesn’t deserve applause for their decision. But still: She sticks to her attitude.