Breaking: England and other nations back down from wearing ‘OneLove’ armband at 2022 FIFA World Cup

England have backed out of wearing the OneLove rainbow armband at the FIFA World Cup after they were threatened with sporting sanctions by the governing body.

Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have also backed out of wearing the armband that was in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

The FAs of all the countries who were set to wear the OneLove armband have confirmed that they were prepared to pay the fines to go ahead with their plans. However, they had to reluctantly agree to keep the armbands off the pitch after FIFA informed them that the captains would be booked for wearing them.

🚨 England back down on OneLove armband ❌

The U-turn by England and Wales for their World Cup matches on Monday comes after Fifa threatened them with fines and possible bookings.

#TelegraphFootball #FIFAWorldCup

In a joint statement, the countries said:

"FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captians wear the armbands on the field of play. As national federations, we can't put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions, including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in Fifa World Cup games."

The statement continued:

"We were prepared to pay fines … however we cannot put out players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play. We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe in unpredented. Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways."

Another U-turn in Qatar as FIFA World Cup begins

The OneLove armband U-turn is the second in the last few days, Qatar banned the sale of beer around the stadiums just hours before the first match of the FIFA World Cup.

Gianni Infantino on Qatar's last-minute ban on the sale of beer at World Cup stadiums. https://t.co/34xFOO6jqX

Budweiser's stalls were shifted away from the stadium, and hours after saying that the relocation was due to an overlap in venue management, the ban was enforced.

Qatar kicked off the FIFA World Cup on Sunday night and was beaten 2-0 by Ecuador in the opener.