By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia’s players would like to wear the “OneLove” multi-coloured armband in support of LGBTQ rights at the Women’s World Cup but it’s not worth risking the co-hosts’ tournament for, captain Sam Kerr said on Monday.
Irish media reported Katie McCabe had been denied permission by global governing body FIFA to wear the OneLove armband when captaining Ireland at the tournament starting July 20.
The OneLove armbands were not allowed at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year.
FIFA has instead sanctioned eight armbands with messages about inclusion, gender equality and peace for the women’s tournament.
“We would love to wear them,” Matildas striker Kerr told reporters in Melbourne on Monday of the OneLove armband.
“Like most of the teams in the whole world, everyone has voiced that they would love to wear it.”
However, Kerr said the threat of an on-field sanction would keep her from wearing one.
“You saw with the men’s World Cup, Harry Kane, for example, first game if he had have worn it, (he would have received) a yellow card; he got a yellow card in the game, so he would have been sent off,” she said of the England captain.
“It’s not worth the risk; putting the team at risk, putting the tournament at risk, putting everything at risk.
“There will be multiple opportunities where we get to use our voice and there’ll be multiple opportunities where I get to use my voice for things.”
Men’s team captains from England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark had planned to wear the “OneLove” armbands at the men’s World Cup to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships.
In a joint statement, however, the federations from those countries said that FIFA had threatened to issue yellow cards to any player wearing it.
FIFA said it decided on its eight armbands for the women’s World Cup after talks with the 32 participating teams, players and United Nations agencies.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by …)
