A bid by European teams to promote inclusion during the World Cup collapsed on Monday, after the Netherlands, England and Wales said threats from Fifa had forced them to abandon plans to wear rainbow-themed captains’ armbands.
The captains of the three countries had said at the weekend that they would wear the One Love armbands in their matches on Monday to send a message against discrimination while playing in Qatar, a country where homosexuality is illegal.
But on Monday, the Dutch football association said it had been forced to change tack after football’s governing body made it clear that captains would receive yellow cards for wearing unapproved armbands. England and Wales also said they would not go through with the plan.