FA chief executive Mark Bullingham has admitted there is a "very real" threat of Harry Kane being given a yellow card for wearing the One Love armband.
The Football Association are seeking clarity from FIFA over whether they will be punished for making the anti-discrimination gesture. England are one of nine nations to sign up to wear the rainbow armband which is supposed to promote diversity at the tournament.
England captain Kane said he wants to wear it but, with just hours to go before the Iran game, there is still uncertainty over whether they will get punished with a fine or a yellow card. FIFA have threatened “sporting sanctions” which could mean a yellow card. Two yellow cards in the Group would rule Kane out of the final Wales game.
Bullingham told the BBC : “It is a very live situation. There are discussions that are carrying on. We are working through those issues right now.
“It is true to say that Fifa did indicated yesterday that there could be sporting sanctions, that’s obviously something that we have to work through. We have been clear that we want to wear the armband. It is important to us. But equally we need to work through all of the discussions right now and see where we end up.”
Asked whether it was a risk for Kane to wear the armband, Bullingham added: “That’s what we’re working through right now. We’ve had meetings this morning with FIFA are there are discussions carrying on.
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“As I’ve said we’re very keen to wear the armband, we want to do it but obviously we would need to consider the implications. Normally in this kind of situation there would be a fine that would get paid and we’ve always said we’d be very happy to do that.
“Well, happy might be the wrong word but we’d be prepared to pay the fine because we think it’s important to show our support for inclusion. If the sporting sanctions threat is real then we need to look at that, we need to step back and work out if there is another way in which we can show out values.”
