The IFAB, which decides on the rules of football, has modified its rule regarding the captain’s armband.
The IFAB, which decides on the rules of football, has made a confusing new rule change for captain’s armbands.
A new addition to the rules has been that captains must wear a single colored captain’s armband, and that “the competition organizer can order the use of a certain type of tape”. The rules are the same all over the world, and they are also followed in Finland.
IFAB published the rule changes for the 2024–2025 season in the summer. In Finland, the changes will come into force at the beginning of the year.
The rule change raises the question of whether the new football rules will ban rainbow ribbons.
Rainbow ribbons were talked about, for example, at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when seven football associations wanted the captains of their World Cup teams to have a ribbon with a rainbow logo on their arms. However, Fifa banned the ribbons, and threatened to issue a warning to players wearing rainbow ribbons.
The following summer, eight different ribbons were available to the captains at the Women’s World Cup, but the rainbow ribbon was not seen this time either.
However, the competition organizer can allow the use of rainbow ribbons if they wish. The head referee of the Swedish Football Association Johan Holmqvist I don’t think that rainbow ribbons would be banned in Finland.
– In Finland, on the contrary, they wanted to promote equality and tolerance. I believe that the association is ready, if necessary, to make a formal decision in which this type of tape will continue to be accepted in Finland, Holmqvist commented to Urheilu.
Holmqvist believes that the topic will arouse more discussion in other parts of the world.
– I believe that Finland will proceed in exactly the same way as in recent years.