FIFA allows England to wear Poppies

I kinda agree with you 2012.

With the slight caveat that this is not specifically for promoting conflicts, be those old or contemporary - remember this is primarily a gesture of Remembrance and has a 90yr old tradition; It is debatable if it is a 'political' message.

Secondly I wouldn't class Afghanistan as 'an imperialist invasion', whereas Iraq definitely was; even though from a UK perspective this is now a matter of history.

The Poppy serves not as a remembrance of war but of those that gave their lives.

Which is why I support FIFA's statement that 'the same regulations are applied globally, and uniformly, in the event of similar requests by other nations to commemorate historical events.'

Or so it should be.

Wow agreeing with FIFA and 2012! :) - I must go for a lie down.

Well at least the makers of the prototype air-con stadium have given me a sense of Schadenfreude for which to blow raspberries at FIFA.

:)

More hypocrisy. Women cannot wear headscarves on the pitch but men can wear the poppies. Hypocrisy from FIFA. Big surprise. That many see these poppies as remembering the imperialist invaders of Iraq and Afghanistan is also ignored by FIFA. So does this mean any countries team can now wear the armbands and others symbols to support a political message?

Being offline is no excuse. This is bigger news than Italy going under and the Eurozone breaking up.

The initial issue was that England wanted to wear the poppy on their shirts. FIFA said that it is illegal to wear any insignia on the shirts. After complaints and an approach by His Royal Highness, FIFA relaxed and said that it could be worn on an armband. :O)

ROLFING. Doesn't surprise me Adey, I've been offline all week, so haven't been up to date with my Daily Mail rantings.

It's been all over the Daily Mail all week.

I also have the real facts about "Winterval' replacing Christmas if you want?

After 12/13 years of repeating the same lies year after year as a sign of 'political correctness gone mad!' this week the Daily Mail had to write in its corection coloumn that it NEVER HAPPENED. It was just an urban myth propegated to outstanding heights of ridiculousness by the Mail itself......evidently the whole country was banning Christmas.......just to reiterate IT NEVER HAPPENED anywhere, ever.

This story,I feel, is in the same mould.

If they can show NIKE ADDIDAS ETC ETC for money than why not poppy for self-emotions...?Ridiculous..... :(

of the Daily Mail.

Firstly, FIFA have allowed a 2 minutes silence during training at Wembly the previous day and a 1 minutes silence before kick-off, where a Poppy Wreath will be placed on the pitch.

Secondly, the players will wear specially designed poppy emblazoned warm up kit before the match starts.

Thirdly, all the staff in the dug-out will be wearing a poppy, as will most of the crowd.

Fourthly, The FA will turn over the advertising hording pitch side to advertise the British Legion campaign with poppy designs.

Fifthly,the FIFA stance says nothing about wearing symbols on armbands - only on the kit. FIFA has 208 Member Associations and the same regulations are applied globally, and uniformly, in the event of similar requests by other nations to commemorate historical events.

And lastly, the British Legion itself, which owns the rights to the Poppy symbol, doesn't have a problem with the Poppy not being on the shirts. I quote Chris Simpkins, Director General of The Royal British Legion:

"There are other ways to honour the poppy than by wearing it on a shirt. The FA has helped us explore every alternative available and we are satisfied that England will enter the competition knowing they have shown proper respect for our Armed Forces.”

and

“The Legion never insists that the poppy be worn or insists that others allow it to be worn,” said Mr Simpkins. “We are grateful when people wear it as a sign of respect, but the decision must be a free one – after all, the poppy represents sacrifices made in the cause of our freedoms.”

This is a made up campaign by the Daily Mail about the 'offence' it felt about not allowing Poppies on the England shirts......it claims victory about it being allowed on armbands (something it was not campaigning for, it was SHIRTS) when there NEVER was a ban on having them on armbands.

The Daily Mail built a strawman, diverted as much attention as possible to the said strawman, burnt it down and claimed victory.

I question whether this has truly been a big topic in the UK Brit. I haven't seen any mention of it in the Daily Mail the last 2 days. ;P

I see no issues with it as long as the players aren't being forced to wear it. In fact, they should be allowed to display whatever symbols they'd like in the same way throughout the season.

I personally don't see anything wrong with this, and I think it's the right decision.

Maybe wearing the armbands will make the players proud to be wearing the shirt and representing our country, reminded that others who've represented our country have given up a lot more.

That said, don't think even pride will make a blind bit of difference to the result!