The Danish Football Association have denied reports they are planning to leave FIFA, but they have criticised Gianni Infantino as the fallout from the ‘OneLove’ armband rumbles on.
Denmark’s captain Simon Kjaer, along with six other European nations, including England and Wales, had planned to wear the rainbow-coloured armband at the World Cup in Qatar to promote diversity and inclusion.
FIFA, however, warned that if players did so they would be booked with a yellow card at the start of match.
Ahead of their match against Japan, in which they fell to a shock defeat in their opening game of the World Cup, Germany’s players covered their mouths during a team photo.
“We wanted to use our captain’s armband to take a stand for values that we hold in the Germany national team: diversity and mutual respect,” a German FA statement read.
“Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard.
“It wasn’t about making a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable. That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important to us. Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.”
There has been a fierce backlash to FIFA’s actions and on Wednesday reports claimed the Danish Football Association were ready to leave FIFA.
The organisation have since clarified that is not the case, however they have criticised FIFA president Gianni Infantino and revealed they won’t vote for him.
“Some media have made the misunderstanding that DBU will withdraw from FIFA,” DBU head of communications Jakob Hoejer told Reuters in a WhatsApp message.
“That was not said at the press conference. We’re critical and not satisfied and we’ll not vote for the present FIFA-president (Gianni Infantino). We will discuss further actions with our Nordic and European colleagues.”
