FIFA Has Rejected Denmark’s Soccer Team’s Request To Wear Pro-Human Rights Shirts At The Qatar World Cup
FIFA has rejected a request by Denmark’s soccer team to wear a uniform supporting human rights at the Qatar World Cup.
FIFA has rejected a request by Denmark’s soccer team to wear a uniform supporting human rights at the Qatar World Cup.
The team had planned to wear training jerseys that read “Human Rights for All” at the tournament.
FIFA, the world’s governing body for soccer, prohibits players to use equipment, including wearing uniforms, that bears “any political, religious or personal slogans.”
“We are of the opinion that the message Human Rights for All is universal and is not a political call, but it should be something that all people can support,” the CEO of the Danish Football Federation said.
“FIFA has a different assessment, and sadly we had to take that into consideration,” he added.
Instead, the team will wear “toned down” shirts for the World Cup in protest against the host country’s human rights record.
The three shirts are in all-red, all-white and all-black, which represents the “color of mourning.”
“We don’t wish to be visible during a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives,” the shirts’ manufacture said on social media.
Qatar has been criticized for its treatment of migrant workers and its criminalization of same-sex relationships.
Since it won the bid to host the tournament in 2010, Qatar has been building seven new stadiums, a new airport, roads, public transportation, hotels and a new city to host the final.
In February 2021, a Guardian report revealed that at least 6,500 migrant workers had died in the country since it won the bid.
Many of the migrant workers are likely to have died while working on the infrastructure projects, according to the Guardian.
The report prompted protests by soccer players around the world.
Earlier last month, Australia’s soccer team issued a first-of-a-kind video supporting migrant workers and LGBTQ rights in Qatar.
