With the Women's World Cup around the corner, preparations are being made before the tournament kicks off on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand. One announcement from FIFA has been the addition of eight captains' armbands which all support various causes. All beginning with "Unite for," the causes represented are: inclusion, indigenous peoples, gender equality, education for all, ending violence against women, peace, zero hunger, and that "football is joy, peace, love, pass"
Developed during talks between all of the national federations and FIFA, the armbands are an attempt to avoid the uproar of the World Cup in Qatar that took place in November of 2022. During that World Cup, the Belgian national team were reportedly told by FIFA to remove the word "love" from the collar of their away kit and there were also cases where fans couldn't wear pride colors into stadiums in Qatar. Additionally teams in Qatar were banned from wearing the "One Love" armband under threat of point deductions. That armband remains barred for this World Cup, though a modified version of it is among those released by FIFA as being permitted.
These are the FIFA-approved armband designs and slogans: pic.twitter.com/FgWpiDPJO0
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FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailed the armbands in a statement.
"After some very open talks with stakeholders, including member associations and players, we have decided to highlight a series of social causes -- from inclusion to gender equality, from peace to ending hunger, from education to tackling domestic violence -- during all 64 matches at the FIFA Women's World Cup."
