Here is what you need to know about the ‘OneLove’ armbands that the captains of seven European teams were planning to wear at the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 World Cup in Qatar:
WHAT DOES THE ‘ONELOVE’ ARMBAND MEAN?
* The ‘OneLove’ armbands were originally launched in 2020 as part of an inclusiveness campaign by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB).
* The KNVB campaign opposes discrimination on the basis of race, skin colour, sexual orientation, culture, faith, nationality, gender, age and “all other forms of discrimination”.
* The design features a rainbow flag in the shape of a heart with a number one in the middle, surrounded by the text “One Love” on either side and the words “football connects” in cursive below.
WHY WERE TEAM CAPTAINS PLANNING ON WEARING THE ARMBAND AT THE WORLD CUP?
* The captains from England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark were planning on wearing the armbands to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships.
WHAT IS QATAR’S RECORD ON LGBT RIGHTS?
* Homosexuality is illegal in the conservative Muslim country, and some soccer players have raised concerns for fans traveling to the event, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and women, whose rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against.
* Less than two weeks before the finals, Khalid Salman, a Qatar World Cup ambassador and former international, told German broadcaster ZDF that homosexuality was “damage in the mind”, adding that anyone coming to Qatar should “accept our rules here”.
* World Cup organizers have repeatedly said that everyone, no matter their sexual orientation or background, is welcome during the tournament.
* Nasser Al Khater, the chief executive of the 2022 World Cup, has said LGBTQ+ fans coming into the country would not have to worry about “persecution of any sort”, describing Qatar as a “tolerant country”.
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