Openly-gay Sports minister Stuart Andrew will wear OneLove armband to England v Wales in Qatar – Daily Mail
Openly-gay sports minister Stuart Andrew says he won’t ‘shy away from who I am’ by wearing a OneLove armband to tomorrow’s World Cup clash between England and Wales.
Seven European nations, including the two British teams, had hoped to wear the rainbow armband during the tournament as part of a year-long anti-discrimination campaign in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
However, bosses had to abandon those plans when FIFA threatened them with sporting sanctions, which only started at a yellow card for the captains wearing them.
Other gestures have since been made, including lighting up the Wembley Stadium arch in rainbow colours, while BBC pundit Alex Scott did wear the armband during coverage of England’s opening game with Iran.
But critics dismissed these actions as ‘virtue signalling’ in absence of the planned protest which never materialised.
Today, Mr Andrew insisted he too will defy the competition hosts’ wishes and wear the armband, telling the Evening Standard: ‘Our message very much is that no one should have to hide who they are.’
Openly-gay sports minister Stuart Andrew says he won’t ‘shy away from who I am’ by wearing a OneLove armband to tomorrow’s World Cup clash between England and Wales
England’s football team had been planning to wear the LGBTQ+ armband along with other European teams such as Germany and Denmark before the campaign was dropped when FIFA threatened to hand out yellow cards to players. Pictured: Harry Kane wearing the rainbow armband
His stance appears at odds with that of Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who was strongly criticised last month for urging gay fans to show a ‘little bit of flex and compromise’ and to ‘respect the culture of your host nation’.
Mr Andrew said Qatari laws meant LGBTQ+ fans had been excluded from the World Cup.
He said: ‘These games should be a celebration show and for all football fans to enjoy. But sadly so many of them are feeling that these are not.
‘This is not a tournament for them. I met with LGBT football supporters, and it was really distressing to see actually how emotional they got that they couldn’t be. They didn’t feel they could be part of this and that is not acceptable.’
Mr Andrew also told the Evening Standard that he had considered boycotting the tournament, but said he has a ‘responsibility’ to go.
He told the newspaper: ‘This has been a decision I’ve thought long and hard about because it is a very deeply personal decision.
‘I have done a lot of work before this tournament started. I met with the Qatari ambassador and had a very frank conversation about what does ‘everyone is welcome’ actually mean.
‘I have a responsibility to go there and see for myself that is actually what has been delivered on the ground. And if it isn’t in any way then to challenge that.’
Welsh economy minister Vaughan Gething, who is in Qatar promoting Wales and its business interests at the World Cup, said: ‘Stuart Andrew needs to make his own choices, and he’s in a different position, this is very personal for him and I understand that.
‘So I’m not going to criticise him for the choices he makes. We will carry on doing what we’ve done, as I say being positive and promoting Wales and our values.’
BBC Presenter and former footballer Alex Scott is pictured wearing OneLove armband
Mr Gething was at an event at Katara Cultural Village in Doha on Monday, to see a mural created by Welsh artists there, wearing a rainbow flag badge.
It is understood Mr Gething will be wearing the badge at tomorrow’s match and possibly a rainbow coloured lanyard.
‘I’m often seen walking around the Senedd wearing this badge or my lanyard, it’s a regular feature. And for me it’s about allyship,’ he added.
It comes after it was revealed that six FIFA officials were sent to the England’s football team’s headquarters on Monday ahead of their match against Iran to threaten ‘drastic sanctions’.
The German Football Association (DFB) claimed earlier this week that England and other teams were faced with ‘extreme blackmail’ or ‘massive sanctions’ that led to them dropping the gesture.
Germany protested against FIFA’s stance by covering their mouths for a team photo before their match against Japan on Wednesday, to highlight how they felt silenced.
Laura McAllister, a former Wales captain who is in Qatar as an ambassador for the country, said: ‘It’s up to every nation to do what they can to promote diversity and equality and important everybody stands up for what’s important to them.’
Ms McAllister was prevented from entering the stadium wearing her rainbow coloured bucket hat during Wales’ first match against the USA.
But she said she was allowed through with no issues during the country’s game against Iran – although adding that she had heard a fan had been asked to remove a rainbow armband once inside the stadium.