Alex Scott has responded to the criticism she received for sporting the One Love armband during coverage of Englandâs game against Iran in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Harry Kane had originally intended to wear the armband throughout the tournament. However, the FA and six other nations decided to back down from sending a powerful message after FIFA threatened to award yellow cards to whoever breached kit regulations.Â
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Explaining the decision, a joint statement from the seven countries read: "FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play.
âAs national federations, we canât 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.â
Now, Scott has taken to social media and shared a Tweet with the "Canât see hidingâ GIF, alongside a laughing face emoji.
The BBC pundit followed this by posting another tweet, captioned: "Love will always conquer hate.â
Scott also implied she will wear the armband again for Belgium's game against Canada and shared screenshots of FIFAâs Participant and attendee guidelines, which make clear that people wearing rainbow flags will not be "approached, destined nor prosecuted.â
What is the One Love armband?
Qatar is not supportive of LGBTQ+ rights and same-sex relationships are criminalised in the country.
The "One Loveâ armband features the number one inside a heart, along with a rainbow â a globally recognised symbol of LGBTQ+ rights.
England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland had agreed to wear the armbands but all have now changed their mind.
BRENTFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 21: BBC Presenter, Alex Scott speaks prior to the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Quarter Final match between Germany and Austria at Brentford Community Stadium on July 21, 2022 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Why did Scott wear the One Love armband?
While the likes of Kane and Gareth Bale did not don the armband, Scott made the brave decision to wear one on the touchline as she reported on Englandâs opener.
The former Arsenal and Lionesses star did a short piece to camera about Englandâs startling line-up, with the armband fully visible.
Scott took to the decision to wear the armband after criticising FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a passionate speech before the World Cup.
Infantino had stressed he felt âgayâ in a bizarre speech, which prompted Scott to have her say.
"I totally understand their reasons, as well as a whole heap of fans from around the world, from the LGBTQ+ community, not wanting to travel here,â she said.
"Once again we referenced Gianni Infantino from what he said. You are not gay. Youâll never understand travelling to a country where you are fearing for your life just because of your preference of who you choose to love.
"Thereâs so much around this as well. To keep saying football is for everyone. Thatâs what you keep feeding us with. We sit here and itâs not, because people have not been able to travel to watch their teams, to support their teams, so you canât say football is for everyone.â
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