Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane has spoken out on the decision not to wear the OneLove armband against Iran at the World Cup.
The FA announced before England's opening World Cup fixture against Iran, along with six other European nations due to wear the OneLove armband at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, that Kane would not wear the armband. The decision came after the threat of captains receiving a yellow card for wearing the armband was upheld by FIFA.
In a statement from the joint football associations, it was confirmed before the Three Lions' 6-2 win against Iran in a statement which read: "FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play. As national federations, we can’t 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."
READ MORE: 'Spineless' - England supporters slam FA World Cup decision after FIFA OneLove armband threat
Jamie Carragher had encouraged the Spurs striker to wear the 'OneLove' armband prior to The FA's u-turn, whilst former Arsenal Women's star and BBC pundit Alex Scott made her own statement by wearing the armband during the build-up to England's opening Group B fixture. Kane has now spoken out following the impressive win against Iran, admitting he was "disappointed" to not wear the OneLove armband.
Speaking after the 6-2 win in which he grabbed two assists but failed to get on the scoresheet, via the Independent, Kane said: "Yeah, I think we’re disappointed (not to wear the OneLove armband). I think I said [on Sunday] we wanted to wear it.
"That decision was taken out of my hands today. I turned up to the stadium with the armband that I wore and I was told I had to wear that. Look, it’s out of our control as players."
The England captain insisted his teammates' record on moral issues stands for itself, as he pointed to how they again took the knee before kick-off, and said discussions with the FA and FIFA will continue throughout the tournament. Kane continued: "I’m sure the FA and Fifa will continue those discussions but most importantly today we focused on the game and got a great result.
"You’ve seen over the last five years we’ve made a stand as a squad and we’ll continue to do that as much as we can. We took the knee today as well but sometimes these decisions aren’t up to us and that’s the bottom line.
"As a squad, our focus was on the game today and I think we showed we’re a really good team and have full focus on what we need to do. I'm not going to say words to get headlines – I said I was disappointed I wasn't able to wear it but that's it."
The decision from the FA came as a huge blow to the LGBTQ+ community with many on social media labelling the governing body as 'spineless' to go back on their gesture. Kane is an injury doubt ahead of the Three Lions' next Group B match against the USA on Friday, November 25 after he was seen leaving through the mixed zone limping with strapping around his right ankle.
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