World Cup, is the rainbow band worth the yellow card? Van Dijk, Kane, Bale and Neuer

How much does the right to protest cost? This is the question that teams and fans of the national teams involved in the World Cup in Qatar are asking themselves, in particular the players ready to display the famous rainbow armband, “One Love”, against the repression that the Qatari government exercises against who belongs to the LGBTQI+ community.

Yellow hypothesis

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The names are many and important, from the captain of Holland Van Dijk to that of Germany Neuer up to the leader of England, engaged today against Iran, Harry Kane, and that of Wales Gareth Bale. But will they really be able to express their opinion freely and without any effect on the field? It would seem not. By regulation, players can only wear official clothing and equipment supplied by FIFA. The display of other kinds of accessories can be punished with a yellow card. Hence the words of Van Dijk, who will make his debut against Senegal in the afternoon: “The prospect of starting a game with a yellow card doesn’t excite me”.

The situation

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So will they take a step back? The hope is that in the morning Fifa will be able to explain its intentions, given that there are no precedents at the World Cup, clarifying whether the protest will really be punished with a yellow card before the match even begins. According to Guardian, the Football Association would have sought clarifications from FIFA as early as September, without receiving any response. The English federation, as well as the German one, said they were ready to receive and pay an administrative fine, but the admonition hypothesis could change things. And time is running out…