After players were forbidden from donning “One Love” armbands during the World Cup, Denmark is considering leaving FIFA and is talking with England about suing the organization.
One-Love Armband
In Qatar, homosexuality is against the law and can result in up to seven years in prison.
Additionally, a number of European nations had intended to wear unique armbands before the contentious competition as a discreet reference to the LGBTQ+ population.
This week, it was revealed that FIFA had abandoned the preparations and was threatening to punish the participating teams severely.
Following the decision, the chief executive of the Danish Football Federation, Jakob Jensen, declared that he was in discussions with the participating countries, including England and Wales, about filing a lawsuit against FIFA.
He stated: “We are currently investigating our legal possibilities, and we are coordinating our discussions on that subject as well, but it is not yet viable to file a case with the CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sports].
“You can no longer use CAS, and I believe that this is just a press-circulating rumor.
“It’s extremely different from going through CAS, and the Germans are looking into the legal options.
If you want to use CAS, you must first file a complaint through the FIFA system and then appeal to the appropriate body.
In addition, Jensen claimed that the Danes had also considered quitting FIFA entirely.
There hasn’t been a decision made just yet. For a very long time, we have been very clear about this. Since August, we have been talking about it in the Nordic region,” he said.
“I’ve given it some more thought, and while I can see that there might be difficulties if Denmark withdraws on its own, let’s try to open a line of communication first.
“I need to consider the issue of how to rebuild FIFA’s reputation. We must assess what has occurred before developing a strategy, in collaboration with our Nordic counterparts.
The decision by FIFA to forbid the “One Love” armbands was criticised by the English FA.
The organization said in a statement that it had been “willing to pay fines,” but did not want to jeopardize the athletes’ ability to compete in the tournament.
“FIFA has been quite clear that it would apply sporting punishment if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” a spokeswoman for the organization stated.
“We have instructed the captains not to try to wear the armband in FIFA World Cup games because as national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they can be subject to sports punishments, such as bookings.
“We had a strong commitment to wearing the armband and were willing to pay the penalty that would typically be imposed for violating the rules on the equipment.
We cannot, however, put our athletes in a position where they risk receiving a ticket or possibly being asked to leave the field of play.