The abhorrent human rights issues within Qatar have been widely discussed already but it looked as though Virgil van Dijk was going to be protesting in the face of the nation and FIFA, during his time on the pitch as captain of Holland.
The idea of wearing the inclusive OneLove captain’s armband was shared by seven European nations and the Netherlands were part of this movement but now it has been announced that this is no longer the plan.
As per a statement on the official website of the Dutch nation: ‘The UEFA working group, of which the KNVB is a part, asked FIFA on September 19 to embrace the OneLove captain’s armband. Today, hours before the first game, it has been made clear to us from FIFA (officially) that the captain will receive a yellow card if he wears the OneLove captain’s armband. We deeply regret that it was not possible to reach a reasonable solution together’.
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It’s a shame that the nations couldn’t be stronger and back their players to wear the armband, with it feeling like once any of them received the first bit of criticism – they folded.
However, to save our No.4 from getting a yellow card, which could in turn build up to a suspension later in the tournament, is probably seen as protecting the players.
It would have been so powerful for these seven nations to stand up to those in charge of handing Qatar the competition and would have been a huge inspiration for many.
It looks likely that this will not happen by any of them now and that’s a real shame.
You can view the Tweet confirming this news via @KNVB on Twitter:
FIFA verbindt sportieve sancties aan het dragen van de OneLove-aanvoerdersband.https://t.co/ZvIbLgy7wu
— KNVB (@KNVB) November 21, 2022
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