FIFA forces Belgium to remove word 'love' on away kit days ahead of first Qatar 2022 match

Belgian national football team’s request for wearing team jerseys with word 'love' written over m, was denied by FIFA on Monday. FIFA reportedly denied Belgium to do so due to a commercial link to a rave festival. multi-colour details on away jersey of Belgium were said to be a 'symbol for mutual values on diversity, equality, and inclusivity'. 

Meanwhile, initiative was first announced during September launch by Tomorrowland, which is one of biggest and grandest music festivals. However, with FIFA’s rules on clothing and equipment at FIFA World Cup 2022, Belgium were forced to change its World Cup plans for its first alternate jersey to tritional red. As per Associated Press, Belgian soccer federation commented on matter and said, “We h to skip it for commercial reasons because of referring to Tomorrowland”.

European nations make a U-turn from 'One Love' campaign

Earlier in day, Belgium, alongside seven or European nations backed out from making ir captain wear ‘One Love’ armband. In September this year, 10 European nations announced that ir captains will be wearing ‘One Love’ armband,  designed to express solidarity with LGBTQ+ community in tournament. However, world governing body threatened players with on-field punishment for breaking FIFA regulations. 

Heing into 2022 World Cup in Qatar, skippers of seven European countries confirmed that y will be wearing heart-shaped, multicoloured ‘OneLove’ armband. armband promotes diversity in sport and society. This became a major talking point as Qatar continues to face criticism for its long list of controversial issues, including humanitarian struggles.

What has been said so far?

Meanwhile, as per AP, seven soccer officials put out a joint statement and said, “As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where y could face sporting sanctions, including bookings”. seven teams to make a u-turn were England, Nerlands, Wales, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark. teams were reportedly told that ir captains will be shown yellow cards for any kind of violation.

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar kicked off on November 20 with Ecuor winning 2-0 against Qatar. In second match in tournament, England dominated Iran to win by 6-2, while Nerlands defeated Senegal by 2-0. In third match of Day 2, Wales returned with a 1-1 draw against USA. Belgium will kick off its campaign on November 24, with Group F match against Cana.