England, Wales, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark captains will not wear 'OneLove' armbands at the World Cup due to pressure from FIFA, their federations said in a joint statement on Monday.
FIFA threatened to give a yellow card to any player wearing the multicolored armband, which was introduced to encourage diversity and inclusion.
In the statement made hours before England's match with Iran to be played in Doha, "FIFA has made it very clear that if our captains wear armbands on the field, it will impose sporting sanctions."
"As national federations we cannot put our players in a position where they can face sporting sanctions, including penalties, so we asked captains not to try to wear law enforcement during FIFA World Cup matches."
In a joint statement, the countries said they were "deeply disappointed" by the FIFA decision, which came days after President Gianni Infantino said "I feel gay today" during a lengthy media monologue criticizing the decision to host the World Cup in one country.
Amnesty International said FIFA failed to live up to its values and responsibilities.
Source: REUTERS