Alex Scott praised for wearing One Love armband at England game

Published 12:36 21 Nov 2022 GMT

Updated 12:40 21 Nov 2022 GMT

Charlie Herbert

Alex Scott praised for wearing One Love armband at England game

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'Alex Scott you legend'

Alex Scott has been praised for deciding to wear the One Love armband during the BBC's coverage of England's opening game of the World Cup against Iran. On Monday morning, it was revealed that England and Wales had backed down and decided not to wear OneLove armbands after a threat from FIFA that captains Harry Kane and Gareth Bale could face an instant yellow card for doing so. The pair had planned to wear the armbands to show as a sign of their commitment to gay rights and in support of human rights, along with a number of other nations. But pundit Alex Scott was clearly having none of it and decided to wear the much-talked about armband in the build-up to England's opening game. The former Arsenal and England player was labelled a "legend" for the move. https://twitter.com/alitweedale/status/1594669022020358145 https://twitter.com/Kyledcfc18/status/1594668641324306432 https://twitter.com/benrevans22/status/1594668799936061444?s=46&t=DI7Bz4fYvoI28YItTjXzTw Qatar's human rights record having been under intense scrutiny since it was awarded the tournament in 2010.

The country has faced huge criticism in particular for its stance on same-sex relationships and treatment of migrant workers. In a statement confirming the u-turn on the One Love armbands read: "FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains 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. "We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband." The statement continued: "However, we cannot put our 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 is unprecedented – we wrote to FIFA in September informing them of our wish to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response. "Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways."

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