FIFA had not allowed England football team to wear printed poppies on their jerseys against Spain in a friendly match held at the Wembly Stadium on Saturday. However, Fabio Capello’s men were eventually given permission to commemorate the Remembrance Day.
FIFA forbids wearing political, religious or commercial messages on shirts.
Afterward, the Football Association sent a special request to FIFA to permit them to mark the Remembrance Day, but international football body rejected their request.
FIFA’s climb-down came after Britain’s Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron sent a letter to FIFA requesting the body to allow the Englishmen to wear shirts embroidered with poppies.
In April 2010, FIFA announced that it was planning to ban headscarves and other religious outings during the 2012 Olympics.
FIFA awarded a 3-0 victory to Jordan women football team in June in the Olympic 2012 qualifiers after the Iranian players wore Islamic scarves. The Iranian were not allowed to play in that match and left the field crying.
Now, FIFA officials apparently contradicted their rules by allowing to England players to play with poppy-printed armbands.
And there remained so many unanswered questions.
FIFA brought the game into disrepute.
FIFA faced its worst scandal in its 107-year-long history in May. It’s a shame that FIFA showed such discrimination in favor of a stronger country.