Fifa tells referee to call off England game if players wear poppies

[denphone]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...land-poppy-ban

England will not be able to defy Fifa's ban on wearing poppies on their shirts for Saturday's friendly against Spain at Wembley, as the referee is under orders from the governing body to call off the match if the emblems are present on their kit.

Fifa's stance was met with widespread disapproval, with the England midfielder Jack Wilshere tweeting: "My Great Granddad fought for this country in WW2 and I'm sure a lot of peoples grandparents did so #WearThePoppy." Earlier the Arsenal midfielder wrote: "England team should wear poppies on saturday. Its the nations tradition and it would be disrespectful not to."

A shocking decision by Fifa.

[Kymmy]

Why? Football has nothing to do with remembering armed conflicts and the lives given in said conflicts..

Being ex-RAF I'm all in support for the poppy appeal but don't see why it should be used in conjunction with a sporting event..

[bornsurvivorxx]

As bad a decision as this is I do see FIFA's point. Imagine the outcry if some country decided to wear the Taliban logo! It has to be the same rules for all so I think they may have got this right even though we don't agree.

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Why? Football has nothing to do with remembering armed conflicts and the lives given in said conflicts..

Being ex-RAF I'm all in support for the poppy appeal but don't see why it should be used in conjunction with a sporting event..

Why not?Two wars that involved the whole world and involved the death of millions across the world including civilians is not a case for remembrance?It really is no skin of Fifa's nose to look at it that way .to say it's political is complete crap.It's a matter of respect about a situation that affected just about every country across the world.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Why not?Two wars that involved the whole world and involved the death of millions across the world including civilians is not a case for remembrance?It really is no skin of Fifa's nose to look at it that way .to say it's political is complete crap.It's a matter of respect about a situation that affected just about every country across the world.

Exactly.

[Kymmy]

Yet how many countries wear poppies remembering that it is purely a commenwealth memorial and not even observed by all of the remaining commenwealth..

Even so this is international sport and nothing to do with war..

As for Fifa they've taken the only stance they can even if they didn't have a team strip policy that this decision would break if allowed.. especially with countries like Germany involved or should we be rubbing their noses in it for another 90+ years

As for two world wars that involved the WHOLE world well that's a whole other thread but you would have to miss out the word WHOLE.

I don't deny that the poppy appeal is special but like any appeal/memorial we shouldn't be enforcing it on other countries.. Or perhaps the French should make everyone in the world sing La Marseillaise on the 14th of July.

[Hom3r]

Seth blaster need to bugger off and let a human being take over.

Every England player should were a poppy, screw FIFA.

There would be a riot if the ref called off the game over poppies.

---------- Post added at 10:07 ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 ----------

Wearing the poppy is a mark of respect, even my Nephew & Niece are wearing them at school, and they wear them with pride.

The school is also doing a project on the two world wars, and on Friday they will be observing a 2 minutes silence and then sing out WWI & WWII songs.

[danielf]

Let's face it. The Poppy appeal is a Commonwealth thing, and I can understand FIFA not allowing such regional symbols to mark an occasion because it sets a precedent where other countries may wish to adorn their shirts with all sorts of symbols.

Also, I think some veterans would do well to come off their high horse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15606557.stm

George Batt, general secretary of the Normandy Veterans' Association, has described the decision as "disgraceful".

He said: "I'm lost for words. I can't see any harm in wearing a poppy. It's so sad.

"You surely don't need rules and regulations in Fifa like this?

In Britain, Remembrance Day is commemorated on the closest Sunday to 11 November
"I would think about 90% of the population wear them [poppies].

"I think it's a bit childish because, after all is said and done, if it wasn't for us blokes, Fifa wouldn't be here."

FIFA was founded in 1904. It seems childish to me to state that FIFA wouldn't be here without veterans.

FIFA are enforcing an existing rule. We wanted an exception but we didn't get one, as FIFA are worried that allowing one exception would undermine their ability to reject other requests from other nations later on. A responsible concern.

An interesting question is why has this suddenly become a big issue all of a sudden? We have had international games around this time before and the England team didn't wear Poppys. Football clubs didn't typically have them on their shirt either. That is a recent trend partly driven by a press campaign to ensure everyone in the public eye is displaying the requisite level of 'respect'. It's much like the tendency for everyone who appears in front of a Television camera to have one affixed by the production staff to avoid any negative press.

This isn't about respect and remembrance. FIFA have permitted, encouraged even, a two minute silence before the game. The England team will be allowed to wear them before and after the game, the coaching staff can wear it all the time, and black armbands can be worn. The issue of if the players are wearing a Poppy symbol during the game is irrelevant. I wear a Poppy symbol on my jacket, it's not on display when I take my jacket off, that's not because I don't respect what the Poppy is meant to represent.

I suspect this is more about political posturing, an increasing trend where to be seen wearing the Poppy is more important than the cause. The use of the Poppy as a weapon for the press to manufacture outrages to either sell papers, attack a public figure who isn't wearing one, or as a PR tool for cynical politicians. This was never meant to be what the Poppy appeal was about.

Anyway if the FA really wish to go above and beyond the acts of remembrance already sanctioned then a more constructive gesture would be to donate the profits from the friendly to the Royal British Legion. That would be really nice.

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by Damien

Anyway if the FA really wish to go above and beyond the acts of remembrance already sanctioned then a more constructive gesture would be to donate the profits from the friendly to the Royal British Legion. That would be really nice.

Maybe Fifa pre-dates the wars and the poppy appeal but the wars dragged in just about every country one way or another even those who were neutral.It wasn't just Europe involved as the wars ranged across the seas as well.Maybe not everyone wears a poppy but I'm damn sure they remember the dead and displaced that were scattered around the world as far as the far east and other non commonwealth countries as well.I don't suppose the US would consider themselves commonwealth or European.

Perhaps a better idea would be to postpone the match until November is over..

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Perhaps a better idea would be to postpone the match until November is over..

No, we had had matches in November before without this issue being a problem. Have the silence, play the match. I really cannot see the problem.

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I don't suppose the US would consider themselves commonwealth or European.

Yet only a very small percentage in the US wear a poppy even though they were one of the first adopters of the practice.. The countries where poppies are worn as standard is just UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

As for the rest of the world only 3 million are sent out shared between 120 other countries so that would equate to probably just the ex-pat population..


This is purely a political dummy spitting season, nothing more and nothing less and I applaud Fifa for not giving into political pressure. Lets keep politics out of sport whenever possible.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Yet only a very small percentage in the US wear a poppy even though they were one of the first adopters of the practice.. The countries where poppies are worn as standard is just UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

As for the rest of the world only 3 million are sent out shared between 120 other countries so that would equate to probably just the ex-pat population..


This is purely a political dummy spitting season, nothing more and nothing less and I applaud Fifa for not giving into political pressure. Lets keep politics out of sport whenever possible.

Who, What, Why: Which countries wear poppies?

The answer

UK
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
In total, 120 countries outside the UK are sent 3m poppies by Royal British Legion, mostly ex-pats
They include Spain, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Cyprus and Argentina

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15637074

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Yet only a very small percentage in the US wear a poppy even though they were one of the first adopters of the practice.. The countries where poppies are worn as standard is just UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

As for the rest of the world only 3 million are sent out shared between 120 other countries so that would equate to probably just the ex-pat population..


This is purely a political dummy spitting season, nothing more and nothing less and I applaud Fifa for not giving into political pressure. Lets keep politics out of sport whenever possible.

The US Do however have a a Veterans Day on the 11 of November(which is also a federal holiday and state holiday)which they remember with parades etc.

It is and has never been a political issue..It's a matter of respect.

However it's not something I want to push down anyone's throat except the hypocritical and possibly corrupt throat of Blatter.