Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was concerning to see a restriction on freedom of expression when World Cup players were threatened by FIFA with yellow cards and expulsion if they wore “One Love” armbands during games.
FIFA threatened to show players yellow cards if they chose to wear “One Love” armbands on the field — one player was expelled from two games, AP News reported Nov. 21. The “One Love” bands were seen as a rebuke against Qatar’s human rights record, particularly the nation's criminalization of homosexuality.
“One of the most powerful things about football, about soccer, is its potential to bring the world together – quite literally, as it’s together here in Qatar, but also figuratively in terms of just bringing human beings together and rediscovering everything that they have in common and how that really does fundamentally outweigh the differences that we deal with every day. That’s the power of sport,” Blinken said in remarks from a news conference. “That’s the power of what we see going on. And the message that we heard from the emir is hugely important, that all are welcome.
"It’s important to make that meaningful, to put that into practice. It’s always concerning from my perspective when we see any restrictions on freedom of expression," Blinken added, according to the release. "It’s especially so when the expression is for diversity and for inclusion. And in my judgment, at least, no one on a football pitch should be forced to choose between supporting these values and playing for their team.”
Seven European teams had initially pledged to wear the armbands, but FIFA's decision to punish players with a yellow card came mere hours before the first players were set to take the field. According to AP News, teams initially expected to face fines. The threat of losing players over the campaign led the teams to leave the armbands behind.
Blinken was in Qatar to launch the fifth U.S.-Qatar Strategic Dialogue and to support the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team at their first game, according to his remarks.
FIFA faced backlash from national soccer federations and fan associations for their decision to penalize players, AP News reported. German soccer federation president Bernd Neuendorf said FIFA prohibited a statement for diversity and human rights, values to which it is committed in its own statutes. He said it was an unprecedented action in World Cup history. The global players’ union FIFPRO said that a rainbow flag is not a political statement, but an endorsement of equality and thus a universal human right.
According to AP News, it's unclear what influence, if any, Qatar's government had in the decision. The armbands are against FIFA's equipment regulations that state each team captain must wear the FIFA provided armbands. FIFA announced a compromise to allow captains to wear armbands that read "No Discrimination," but only during the quarterfinal stage.
