England And Scotland Will Not Be Allowed To Wear Poppies, FIFA Insists

 

England and Scotland will not be allowed to wear poppies, FIFA has insisted, while the British Prime Minister has condemned the ruling. The two countries meet at Wembley on November 11, Armistice Day, and there had been hopes that players would wear commemorative shirts.

According to football's international governing body, teams must not display political, religious or commercial symbols on their kit. It's a ruling that was described as utterly outrageous by Theresa May at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday as she defended the players' right to wear special commemorative kits.

FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura, in London on Wednesday night for a dinner with the FA and other governing bodies, confirmed the rules would not be changed. She said “Britain is not the only country that have been suffering from the result of war, Syria is an example. My own continent Africa has been torn by war for years. And the only question is why are we doing an exception for one just one country and not the rest of the world.”

A spokesperson for FIFA later said that “FIFA fully respects the significance of commemorating Remembrance Day on 11 November each year. The Laws of the Game are overseen by the International Football Association Board and applicable to all 211 member associations. The relevant Law 4, para. 4, clearly states that the players equipment should not carry any political, religious or commercial messages. The Laws are applied uniformly in the event of similar requests by any member association to commemorate similar historical events.”