By Gareth James
Gareth Bale has been told by World Cup chiefs to leave his “One Love” captain’s armband in the dressing room.
Wales captain Bale and his England counterpart Harry Kane were both planning to wear the rainbow-coloured armbands in Qatar when they lead out their respective countries at the tournament.
It was intended to send a message against discrimination of any kind at a host country which has repressive laws that make same-sex relationships a criminal offence.
Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany and Switzerland had all joined Wales and England in requesting FIFA to allow their skippers to wear the One Love armbands, but are yet to have a response.
However, Nasser Al Khater, the chief executive of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, has declared his opposition to the move and argued political statements should be kept out of the World Cup.
Al Khater told Sky News: “From what I understand, there are discussions taking place about the different political messages that are going to be.”
He added: “This is a sporting tournament that people want to come [to] and enjoy. Turning it into a platform of political statements, I don’t think is right for the sport.
“All we ask is for people to be respectful of the culture.
“At the end of the day, as long as you don’t do anything that harms other people, if you’re not destroying public property, as long as you’re behaving in a way that’s not harmful, then everybody’s welcome and you have nothing to worry about.”
Bale wore the One Love armband during the recent Nations League match in Belgium, but then the armband was said to have gone missing and was not worn for the game against Poland.
But the FAW has previously stated it was part of a collective effort to be allowed to wear the armband in Qatar and Bale has said: “It’s wonderful to see the nations unite to support the OneLove campaign as we stand together against all forms of discrimination.
“We know the world will be watching us and this campaign emphasises that everybody in football has at least one thing in common; their love for the game.
“By working together we can send a unified message that we are against any form of exclusion and discrimination.”
