FIFA backflips on banning ‘One Love’ armbands at the Women’s World Cup in Australia & NZ

The controversial ‘One Love’ captain’s armband banned by Qatari officials before the start of the Men’s World Cup will be permitted at the Women’s World Cup in Australia, albeit with a re-design.

The special captain’s armband which promotes anti-discrimination, was not allowed in the men’s World Cup in Qatar. However, for the Women’s World Cup, a modified version of the armband has been approved after several months of negotiation.

The original ‘One Love’ armband is still not an option for players to wear in this tournament.

However FIFA has revealed eight different armbands on Friday that the captains of the 32 teams participating in the tournament can choose from.

One of the armbands is called ‘Unite for Inclusion.’ It is heart-shaped and multicoloured, although it is not exactly the rainbow design originally worn.

FIFA collaborated with the United Nations human rights office in Geneva to create the inclusion option. 

It closely resembles the design of the One Love armband from the Netherlands, which was rejected by socially conservative Qatar seven months ago.

The new armband design features six colors arranged in the same order as the original, namely red, black, green, pink, yellow, and blue. However, the stripes now run horizontally instead of diagonally, as in the Netherlands’ One Love design.

These colours also represent the flags associated with Pan-Africanism and pan-sexuality.

Australian captain and the world’s best player Sam Kerr (in yellow)  is openly gay

There are a number of gay players who will be among more than 700 coming from all corners of the globe to play in the World Cup including Aussie skipper and the world’s best player, Sam Kerr.

Kerr is the all-time leading goal scorer in both the Australian W-League and the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States. 

She is the only woman to have won the Golden Boot award in three different leagues in three different countries.

The legendary US star Megan Rapinoe will compete in her 4th and last World Cup. She is also openly gay and was named the Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2019 after winning the Ballon d’Or Féminin. 

Pernille Harder is one of Europe’s best female gay soccer players.

She plays for Chelsea and the Danish women’s national soccer team as a striker or attacking midfielder. In 2018, Harder was named Europe’s Best Female Footballer. She has seven times been named Danish Football Player of the Year.

Harder made headlines in 2019 after kissing long-time girlfriend Magdalena Eriksson at the 2019 World Cup.

And while the armbands represent a break though for inclusion, not all watching on are happy as they don’t directly reflect the globally-accepted rainbow theme.

Pernille Harder the Danish superstar who -plays with Kerr at Chelsea, controversially kissed her girlfriend  Magdalena Eriksson during the 2019 World Cup

Legendary US star forward Megan Rapinoe, now sporting blue hair (as opposed to her standard purple look), is delighted with FIFA’s decision to allow One Love armbands

FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura, praised the agreement for the Women’s World Cup in a FIFA statement.

‘Thank you to the players and the teams for sharing your support, for these causes,’ she said.

‘United, we can make a difference.’

FIFA regulations mandate teams at the World Cup must wear only approved armbands and other equipment. 

The causes on display in Australia and New Zealand will include uniting for indigenous peoples, gender equality, ending violence against women, peace and zero hunger.

The agreement for this year’s Women’s World Cup won’t necessarily carry over to future FIFA tournaments.

FIFA stressed the need for ‘respecting global differences’ in other nations.