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OneLove

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For other uses, see One Love.
OneLove
Design of the OneLove armband
Date2020–present
LocationInternational, primarily Europe
Also known asOneLove armband, #OneLove, Pride armband, multicoloured armband, rainbow captain's armband
CauseAnti-discrimination, human rights, anti-racism, LGBT+ rights

OneLove is an anti-discrimination, anti-racism, LGBT+ rights and human rights campaign, started during the 2020 football season by the Dutch Football Association,[1][2] that invites football players to wear armbands with the rainbow-coloured OneLove logo. Attracting controversy when worn in nations that have homophobic or anti-LGBT+ laws, it became prominent during the men’s 2022 FIFA World Cup.

History

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England women's vice-captain Millie Bright (right) wearing the armband during a friendly against the Czech Republic in England in October 2022

The OneLove campaign kicked off in the Netherlands at the start of the 2020 football season, largely in response to racism in Dutch football,[3] with an open letter rejecting any form of discrimination. The letter emphasised that, internationally, football unites millions of people from all parts of society. That message was shown on billboards in football stadiums where the Netherlands national team played their games. The OneLove logo was also worn on team jerseys during the KNVB Cup Final between Ajax and PSV. The campaign then spread its advertising to print and video media.[2][4] Netherlands captain Georginio Wijnaldum wore the OneLove armband during UEFA Men’s Euro 2020.[5] In June 2021, another open letter was published, this time saying that the fans were proud of their teams for the OneLove campaign.[6]

At the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, most captains wore either a OneLove or Stonewall rainbow armband,[7] including winning England captain Leah Williamson,[8] Sweden captain Kosovare Asllani,[9] and Norway captain Ada Hegerberg, who was also wearing it to honour the victims of the 2022 Oslo shooting.[10]

The OneLove campaign's impact in the Netherlands saw it spread to other European countries, with ten national men's teams (Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales) agreeing to wear the armband for all their UEFA Nations League and FIFA World Cup matches, beginning in September 2022. Two of those nations did not qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and England did not wear the armband while in official mourning of Elizabeth II.[2]

In December 2022, during the 2022 World Cup, Dutch music artists Yellow Pearl and Noah Jaora collaborated on a single titled "OneLove", having consulted with the Dutch Football Association. The single was released to support the campaign.[11]

The England women's team continued to wear the OneLove armband in 2023, also in recognition of Czech men's player Jakub Jankto coming out while an active international, with Williamson saying that she wished to continue wearing it at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and that if there was a decision about it, "you hope it's not a last-minute call once [teams] get there".[7] Shortly afterwards, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that they "are looking for a dialogue and we will have a solution in place well before the Women's World Cup."[12] In the weeks before the tournament, FIFA upheld its ban of the OneLove armband, though it revealed its own similar design, with the same colours in a heart, as an option.[13]

In March 2023, Dutch player Redouan El Yaakoubi chose to step away from captaining Excelsior Rotterdam so that he did not have to publicly support the campaign.[14]

Armband design

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The armband features a heart with multicoloured stripes and a numeral "1". The words "#ONE" and "LOVE" are on either side of the heart. The colours in the logo are not those of the rainbow or LGBT pride flag; instead, they symbolise "race and heritage (red/black/green) and all gender identities and sexual orientations (pink/yellow/blue)".[15] The choices for the colour combinations were inspired by the Pan-African flag and the pansexual flag respectively.[16]

Controversies

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UEFA Men’s Euro 2020

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Rejection of the armband was first seen in 2021, when Wijnaldum wore it in a Men’s Euro 2020 match against the Czech Republic that was held in Budapest, Hungary. The Hungarian government had shortly before passed a law that banned mentions of homosexuality and transgender issues in education. Dutch fans had also been stopped from taking rainbow flags into the stadium fan zone; UEFA said that any restrictions were made by local security and that it welcomed rainbow Pride symbols, adding that it had informed the Hungarian Football Federation that "rainbow-colored symbols are not political and in line with UEFA's #EqualGame campaign, which fights against all discrimination, including against the LGBTQI+ community, such flags will be allowed into the stadium."[5]

2022 Men’s FIFA World Cup

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See also: LGBT issues at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup Group B § Captains armbands

European players who had previously worn rainbow armbands informed FIFA of their intention to continue with the gesture at the 2022 Men’s FIFA World Cup, held in Qatar. Their plan to do so gained widespread attention in the days before the start of the tournament, due to increasing criticisms of Qatar's attitude towards homosexuality.[17][18]

After having arrived at the tournament, the relevant associations were warned that players would be at minimum booked for wearing rainbow armbands, rather than just receive the expected fine;[18] a joint statement by England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands confirmed they would not wear the armband as doing so would affect players. The decision from FIFA coming so late, as well as FIFA "silencing anti-discrimination work within the game", was criticised.[19]

Instead of the captains, several people associated with national teams wore the armband. Most prominent was queer BBC pundit and former England women's captain Alex Scott, who wore the armband while reporting on the England vs Iran match on 21 November.[20] German interior minister Nancy Faeser attended Germany's first game at the World Cup on 23 November, where she wore the armband.[21] UK sports minister Stuart Andrew, who is gay, wore it while attending the match between England and Wales.[22]

The German Men’s team were particularly critical of FIFA's decision to ban the armband. At their first game, the team covered their mouths in protest of being silenced.[23] When the lack of armband caused one of their sponsors to drop out, the German football association replaced the sponsor's logo with the OneLove symbol in their press centre at the World Cup.[24]

Similar actions

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In October 2017, Georgian footballer Guram Kashia wore a rainbow-striped captain's armband for Dutch club Vitesse (against Heracles Almelo) in support of LGBT rights, leading to backlash in his country and calls for him to step down from the Georgian Men’s national team.[25]

The popularity of the OneLove armband in European football, and though it is not only in support of LGBT+ rights, prompted some captains to also wear a fully rainbow design armband produced by British LGBT+ advocacy group Stonewall, which had promoted its rainbow laces campaign for LGBT+ visibility in sport since 2013.[26][27][28]

Germany Men’s captain Manuel Neuer wore a rainbow armband inspired by the campaign throughout the Men’s Euro 2020 and at a pre-tournament friendly.[5][29] UEFA initially opened an investigation of Neuer and the German Football Association, suggesting his armband was a breach of political neutrality; the investigation closed with the determination that "the armband has been assessed as a team symbol for diversity and thus for a 'good cause.'"[29] In the Men’s Germany match against England at Wembley, after the investigation was dropped, Neuer continued to wear his rainbow armband and the three Lions’ captain Harry Kane wore the OneLove armband. The match fell during June, a Pride Month; Kane had worn rainbow armbands on other occasions to no controversy, particularly in the Premier League for Tottenham, during Pride events.[30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Syed, Armani (21 November 2022). "The 'One Love' LGBTQ Rights Armband Is Causing a Stir at the Qatar World Cup". Time. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Ten countries embrace the Dutch OneLove campaign". knvb.com. KNVB. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Voetbalsupporters kunnen discriminatie melden via anti-racisme-app". nos.nl (in Dutch). 8 February 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  4. ^ Ons Love: voetbal verbindt Ons voetbal is van iedereen, 26 september 2020
  5. ^ a b c Boren, Cindy (27 June 2021). "Dutch player shares 'one love' message on armband during Euro match". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  6. ^ Oranje is al jarenlang hét voorbeeld Ons voetbal is van iedereen, 2 juni 2021
  7. ^ a b Wrack, Suzanne (15 February 2023). "Leah Williamson wants England to wear OneLove armband at 2023 World Cup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  8. ^ Yates, Jonny (1 August 2022). "England Lionesses' captain made history at Euro 2022 while wearing a Stonewall rainbow armband". PinkNews. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Kosovare Asllani of Sweden wearing a rainbow captains armband looks..." Getty Images. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  10. ^ Kachour, Walid (7 July 2022). "Women's Euro 2022: 'I have power, but I don't make the decisions,' says Ada Hegerberg". Le Monde.fr. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Muzikaal antwoord op verbod OneLove in Qatar komt uit Apeldoorn: 'Een ode aan de menselijkheid'" [Musical response to ban OneLove in Qatar comes from Apeldoorn: 'An ode to humanity']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Women's World Cup 2023: FIFA in talks for One Love armband solution". Sky News. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  13. ^ Wrack, Suzanne (30 June 2023). "Fifa blocks rainbow armband and unveils Women's World Cup alternatives". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  14. ^ "El Yaakoubi relinquishes captaincy over OneLove row". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  15. ^ "OneLove Campaign website: Football has the power to unite people" (in Dutch). 25 September 2020. The colours of the OneLove-logo symbolize race and heritage (red/black/green) and all gender identities and sexual orientations (pink/yellow/blue)
  16. ^ ""One Love": DFB-Kapitän trägt Binde gegen Diskriminierung" ["One Love": DFB captain wears armband against discrimination]. Deutscher Fußball-Bund (in German). Die Farbgebung symbolisiert dies. Rot, Schwarz und Grün finden sich in der Panafrikanischen Flagge, Pink, Gelb und Blau symbolisieren die Pansexual Flagge. (The colouring symbolises this. Red, black and green are found in the Pan-African flag, pink, yellow and blue symbolise the Pansexual flag.)
  17. ^ Smith, Alan (21 November 2022). "Harry Kane to wear 'One Love' armband at World Cup in anti-discrimination gesture". The Mirror. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  18. ^ a b "World Cup 2022: England, Wales & other European nations will not wear OneLove armbands". BBC Sport. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  19. ^ "England: Three Lions among seven countries to confirm they will not wear OneLove armband in Qatar". Sky Sports. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  20. ^ Chudy, Emily (21 November 2022). "BBC's Alex Scott praised for wearing LGBTQ+ armband while football bosses bend to Qatar's will". PinkNews. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  21. ^ Rinaldi, Gabriel (21 November 2022). "Top German minister will travel to Qatar World Cup despite criticism". Politico.
  22. ^ "Sports minister Andrew wears OneLove armband". BBC Sport. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Germany players cover mouths in team photo amid OneLove armband row". ESPN. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Germany replace supermarket logo with OneLove in press centre". Reuters. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  25. ^ UEFA (30 August 2018). "Kashia proud of UEFA #EqualGame Award". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Rainbow Laces". Stonewall. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  27. ^ "Rainbow Laces Campaign – Stonewall & Team Pride". Premier League. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  28. ^ "Rainbow Captain's Armband". StonewallUK. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  29. ^ a b Rütten, Jonas; Hau, Kerry (20 June 2021). "UEFA stops investigation over Neuer's rainbow armband as Pernille Harder calls for reconsideration over moving more Men's Euro 2020 games to Budapest". Goal. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  30. ^ Tanner, Joe (29 June 2021). "Harry Kane and Manuel Neuer to wear rainbow armbands for England vs Germany at Men's Euro 2020". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
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