England and Wales captains will not wear 'OneLove' armbands in Qatar over fear of 'sporting sanctions'

FIFA had earlier indicated England could face sporting sanctions should captain Harry Kane wear the rainbow armband in a country where same-sex relationships are criminalised.

Kane was among the captains of nine European nations who had planned to wear the rainbow armbands, with Wales and the Netherlands the other teams among that number who are also in action on Monday.

A joint statement from the European nations who had signed up to the ‘One Love’ campaign confirmed they had asked for the armbands to no longer be worn.

“FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” the statement began.

“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. 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.”

England skipper Kane and manager Gareth Southgate had shown their support for wearing the armband on Sunday.

Kane said: “I think we’ve made it clear as a team and a staff and organisation that we want to wear the armband. I know the FA are talking to FIFA at the moment, and I’m sure by game-time they will have their decision. But, yeah, I think we’ve made it clear that we want to wear it.”

Asked for his opinion given the apparent threat of a yellow card, boss Southgate added: “There’s nothing I can add to what Harry has said. I know there are some conversations going on. I think a number of European countries have spoken. We’ve made our position clear, so hopefully everything will be resolved before the game.”