The OneLove armbands also caused discussion during the Women’s World Cup. Magdalena Eriksson, who is part of Sweden’s captaincy and a sexual minority, considers the new tapes a step in the right direction.
The captains’ OneLove armbands, which emphasize equality and the rights of sexual minorities, caused a heated debate at the men’s World Cup in Qatar.
The captains of several European football teams were supposed to wear the OneLove strip in the World Cup matches, but the International Football Association Fifa threatened sanctions, and the unions withdrew from the demonstrations.
Fifa will also ban OneLove armbands at the Women’s World Cup starting in a couple of weeks, but will offer teams eight alternative captain’s armbands to choose from. None of the tapes directly mentions sexual minorities.
The Unite For Inclusion ribbon has colors similar to the rainbow symbol of sexual minorities, and it reads “unite and take part” in a free Finnish translation. According to Fifa, the colors of the ribbon symbolize descent and all gender identities.
Other tapes highlight, for example, peace, indigenous peoples, education, prevention of violence experienced by women and gender equality.
Defender belonging to the captaincy of the Swedish national team Magdalena Eriksson considers the new tapes a step in the right direction. Eriksson is in a relationship with a Danish player Pernille Harderin with. The couple moved together from Chelsea to Bayern Munich in July.
Eriksson tells Expressen having participated with a group of players in a meeting where armbands were discussed with Fifa. Eriksson stated that he does not know if he can tell who was at the meeting and what was discussed, but he admitted that he had participated in such a meeting.
– It felt like they really listened to us. It feels good. Hopefully Fifa will invite the players to discuss in the future as well.
Eriksson’s own favorite is the Unite For Inclusion tape because it applies to everyone.
Sweden’s second leading player Kosovare Asllani like Eriksson, considers new tapes a good thing. According to him, the team decides on the tape together.
– Everyone certainly has their own opinion on which tapes to choose. It is important that we discuss the decision together.
The new tapes have also collected reviews. by Sky Sports News Anton Tolouin along is interestingthat Fifa cooperates with, for example, the UN and the World Health Organization WHO with its new armbands, but does not officially support sexual minorities.
– It is very fascinating when a large number of athletes belonging to the LGBTQ+ community play in the Women’s World Cup.
The Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will be played from July 20 to August 20, 2023. shows all matches on its channels.