Gary Neville tells England how to wear OneLove armband despite FIFA threat

Harry Kane had planned to wear the OneLove armband for England in Qatar (Picture: Getty Images)

Gary Neville says the England management and coaching staff should wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup, after it was decided captain Harry Kane would not due to the threat of a yellow card.

Kane was planning to wear the rainbow armband when England get their World Cup campaign underway on Monday against Iran, but it has been decided that he will not.

The captains of six other countries were also going to wear the sign of inclusion and anti-discrimination, but collectively have u-turned after FIFA threatened that they would be booked for the gesture.

Former England defender Neville has suggested a way round the threat, with Gareth Southgate, his assistant Steve Holland and the rest of the coaching staff taking it in turns to wear the armband.

Neville tweeted: ‘Gareth game one, Steve Holland game two, Keeper coach game three, Physio game four etc.’

A joint statement from the Football Associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland confirmed: ‘FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play.

‘As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games.

‘We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband.

‘However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.

‘We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is unprecedented – we wrote to FIFA in September informing them of our wish to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response.

‘Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways.’

MORE : England and Wales lose their bottle and won’t wear OneLove rainbow armband at World Cup

MORE : Why Harry Kane could get a yellow card for wearing OneLove armband at Qatar World Cup

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FIFA has warned countries that captains will be booked for wearing the armband.